Mike Brown went home with an X Games gold medal after battling his way to an exciting win at this weekend’s Enduro X competition held in Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain.
After claiming a similar victory earlier in the month at the series opener in Las Vegas of the 2013 GEICO AMA EnduroCross, fueled by Monster Energy and presented by Lucas Oil Series, the 41-year-old off-road star led all 10 laps of the Barcelona main event despite heavy pressure from a bevy of riders, including his FMF/KTM teammate Taddy Blazusiak, Rockstar Energy/Lucas Oil/JCR Honda’s Colton Haaker and American Beta’s Cody Webb.
Blazusiak offer the strongest opposition, pulling within striking distance of Brown at the midway point of the race. However, a late-race crash put Blazusiak on the ground, allowing Brown to take the win unchallenged.
“Barcelona is a great place to get a win,” said Brown. “I won a Supercross race here a long time ago, so this is a good place for me. I got off to a good start and just kept my head down and didn’t look back. I had a few scary moments, but overall I ran a good race until the last lap.”
On the final lap of the race, Brown took a new line in the rock section and got hung up, allowing Haaker to close in. However, Brown was able to free himself in plenty of time to cruise across the line for the win.
“My arms were getting tired and I thought I could just creep though that new line without having to use my clutch, but my rear brake rotor got hung up between the rocks and it took a minute to get going,” explained Brown.
Haaker pushed Brown early in the race and then settled into a solid third later on. Haaker later capitalized on Blazusiak’s misfortune to finished in the runner-up position.
Webb crashed on the same obstacle as Blazusiak, a slippery and slanted log, but was still able to maintain third, even when Blazusiak tried an aggressive last-lap pass attempt. Webb was able to stand his ground and crossed the finish line in third, while Blazusiak settled for fourth with a swollen wrist from his crash.
Husqvarna’s Cory Graffunder rode a drama-free race for fifth, beating out RPM KTM’s Kyle Redmond. Meanwhile Kawasaki-mounted Gary Sutherlin was seventh ahead of another RPM KTM rider, Bobby Prochnau of Canada.
Rounding out the top 10 were Alfredo Gomez on a factory Husaberg and Kawasaki-backed Taylor Robert.
The X Games series next sees action in Munich, Germany, on June 27-30, while round two of the 2013 GEICO AMA EnduroCross, fueled by Monster Energy and presented by Lucas Oil Series resumes on June 8th in Sacramento, California.
Results:
1. Mike Brown (KTM)
2. Colton Haaker (Hon)
3. Cody Webb (Bet)
4. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM)
5. Cory Graddfunder (Hsq)
6. Kyle Redmond (KTM)
7. Gary Sutherlin (Kaw)
8. Bobby Prochnau (KTM)
9. Alfredo Gomez (Hsb)
10. Taylor Robert (Kaw)
