The following is a release from KTM…
Just one week after claiming a solid runner-up position in the Indoor Enduro World Cup Polish, extreme enduro star Taddy Blazusiak has won the grueling Hell’s Gate event in Ciocco, Italy, February 14. Victor for the second consecutive year, the KTM Factory Enduro Team rider finished the two-stage event as winner of both the morning qualifying enduro before going on to top the main Hell’s Gate race. Finishing alongside Taddy on the podium were Italian Alessandro Botturi and Britain’s Dougie Lampkin.
Conditions at the ’09 running of Hell’s Gate were bitterly cold, with temperatures barely rising above freezing during much of the near nine hours of competition. Making the ’09 event especially challenging was the fact that the ground was frozen solid, making not only the slow-speed, technical sections of the course difficult, but also the higher speed tracks and trails.
Despite a “big crash” during the morning enduro when Taddy hit a large patch of ice, two winning special test performances and one runner-up result ensured that Taddy started the main Hell’s Gate event on pole position. Faced with four laps of a lengthened Hell’s Gate course, Taddy made the most of his advantage and opened up an early lead as the rest of the 30 competitors jostled for position.
Ahead at the end of the first lap Taddy dropped back to the runner-up position on lap two when he found himself stuck while riding up one of the many riverbeds. Struggling to push his bike free due to his painful wrist, Taddy dropped between two and three minutes behind Botturi before catching and passing the KTM-mounted Italian. Once again out front, Taddy made no further mistakes and started to pull away from the riders behind him.
Knowing that even the smallest of falls could be costly, Taddy maintained a steady pace as darkness started to fall and reached the event’s finish line – Hell’s Peak – having successfully negotiated the fourth and final lap. Claiming his second consecutive Hell’s Gate victory Taddy finished around eight minutes ahead of Botturi with Dougie Lampkin a few minutes behind.
“This year’s event was really, really tough,” Blazusiak said. “The course was frozen solid everywhere and incredibly slippery in places. I had a big crash, like lots of riders in the morning qualifying event, and hurt my right wrist and fingers. That made it really hard for me. But of course it’s great to win again.
“The morning event went well. I felt good and despite my big crash I won two of the timed special tests and finished second on the last one. You couldn’t relax anywhere, because when you did the frozen ground would catch you out. Finishing in front of some of the World Enduro Championship riders was good, but the main thing was that I qualified on the first row for the main race, which I did.
“It’s great to have won Hell’s Gate again.”
Results:
1.Taddy Blazusiak (KTM Enduro Factory Team); 2. Alessandro Botturi (KTM); 3. Dougie Lampkin (Beta); 4. Graham Jarvis (Sherco); 5. Tom Sagar (Husaberg); 6. Andreas Lettenbichler (BMW); 7. Piero Sembenini (Gas Gas)
