KTM concluded the worldwide renowned Erzberg Rodeo with a scoop of all podium places in the Red Bull Hare Scramble. Tadeuz Blazusiak was the surprise winner in front of Tom Sager and Juha Salminen.
Polish rider Tadeuz Blazusiak set himself up for a good race when the Austrian manufacturer offered him a KTM 250 EXC to ride in Saturday night’s Enduro Cross show race. His good result in that event gave him a wild card for a front row start in Sunday’s Hare Scramble and the 24-year-old professional Enduro rider capitalized on the opportunity in the best possible way. He won the race with style and finesse, with a comfortable lead of around six minutes.
“This is unbelievable for me,” Blazusiak said after the race, which he completed in one hour 29 minutes and 48 seconds. “This is my first time at Erzberg and right from the first very rocky section it all went without any problems.”
British KTM professional rider Tom Sager was second on his KTM 250 EXC and runaway championship leader in the 2007 Enduro E1 class world championship Finland’s Juha Salminen was third. Salminen, with 10 world championship titles, one of the most successful motorcycle professionals of all time was onboard the brand new 2008 KTM 300 EXC-E machine, ensuring a perfect debut of the two-stroke Sport Enduro with an electric start.
The character of the race and the enormously difficult terrain, cut out of the open-cut iron ore mine on the side of this Austrian mountain makes it very rare for a rider to have such a smooth run. The result is therefore a particular tribute to the skills of the Polish rider who dominated the race once he had secured the lead.
KTM rally factory rider Cyril Despres was less fortunate. The Frenchman was in third place when a damaged tire forced his retirement.
Young 18-year-old American rider Kyle Redmond finished in ninth place on his KTM 250 EXC in his first ever Erzberg competition, coming in just behind KTM Enduro E3 factory rider, Marko Tarkkala of Finland. The German privateer and Erzberg specialist Ralf Scheidhauer also put in a good race in the big field of starters and finished in 10th place on his KTM 250 EXC.
With the triumph in this unique test of man and machine, the Erzberg Rodeo 2007 was near perfect for the Austrian manufacturer. On Thursday KTM riders also took four of the top five places in the 2-cylinder event on the Iron Mountain.
Results Red Bull Hare Scramble 2007
1. Tadeuz Blazusiak, Poland, KTM, 1:29.48
2. Tom Sager, Britain, KTM, 1:35.36
3. Juha Salminen, Finland, KTM, 1:42.45
4. Wayne Braybrook, Britain, GasGas, 1:47.10
5. Paul Edmondson, Britain, Suzuki, 1:47.54
6. Gerhard Forster, Germany, Beta, 1:48.47
7. Paul Bolton, Britain, Honda,1:57.05
8. Marko Tarkkala, Finland, KTM 2:03.50
9. Kyle Redmond, USA, KTM, 2:09.49
10. Ralf Scheidhauer, Germany, KTM, 2:11.20
