| January 9, 2017
2017 SuperEnduro Germany Results
Story & photos by Future7Media.
Getting down to business in Germany, Husqvarna’s Colton Haaker came out swinging at round two of the FIM SuperEnduro World Championship to claim the top step of the podium. Dominating proceedings from start to finish, the defending world champion won all three heat races and topped the Akrapovic SuperPole hot lap too.
American Colton Haaker took the win at round two of the SuperEnduro championship in Germany.
“What can I say! It’s been an awesome night for me in Germany,” told Haaker. “It was a night were everything came together.”
After playing second fiddle to Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) at the series opener in Poland, Haaker laid down the law in Riesa, Germany. Determined to end his night with the series’ #1 plate, the Husqvarna rider gave an indication of what was to come by topping the SuperPole by a cool eighth-tenths of a second.
Hot out of the starting gate for heat one, it didn’t take long for him to hit the front of the field and from there control the pace to claim the first win of the night. With the starting order reversed for heat two, Haaker calmly worked his way forward from the second row of the grid to win. Backing that up with victory in heat three, ensured a clean sweep in Riesa.
“I’ll be honest,” continued Haaker. “I didn’t feel great on the track tonight and didn’t feel like I rode that well for the most part. But I got good starts, put down fast laps and got the results I needed. I don’t think I even crashed once during the races. I did struggle with a little arm pump but apart from that things went well so I’m pleased to win all the races and come away with the point’s lead.”
Behind Haaker, the battle for the final steps of the podium was played out between KTM’s Alfredo Gomez and Jonny Walker. Delivering another consistent night on the track, Gomez held off Walker for the runner-up result…
“I felt good from the first free practice and managed to continue that into the finals,” explained Gomez. “I changed a few of the lines I was using during the finals and I really think that helped me. It allowed me to stay ahead of Jonny because he was really pushing me hard.”
Despite improving over his performance from Poland, Walker was disappointed not to be closer to Haaker. Second fastest to the Husqvarna rider, a collection of bad starts and mistakes ultimately held him back in third.
Spain’s Alfredo Gomez finished second in Germany.
“My speed was good,” said Walker. “But my starts just weren’t what I needed. It’s tough on all SuperEnduro tracks, but especially this one here in Germany. There was one good line and it was so difficult getting around riders.
KTM’s Jonny Walker was expected to be Haaker’s primary rival for the championship but small mistakes have held him back to 4th and 3rd place finishes in the two rounds so far.
“I knew I was a little faster than Gomez, but getting ahead of him was hard. Of course I was hoping for the win but I feel like I rode and raced better than I did in Poland.”
Behind the leading trio the battle for the remainder of the top five was between Sherco’s Mario Roman and Husqvarna’s Pascal Rauchenecker. Going down to the wire, Roman beat Rauchenecker across the finish line in heat three to snatch fourth.
Enduring possibly one of the most frustrating night’s racing of his career, Mike Brown was disappointed to end Germany in seventh.
“I think that was possibly one of my worst nights ever on a bike,” admitted Brown. “I don’t think I managed a clean lap. I’m not really sure what happened but I think it was just one of those times were nothing clicked. I didn’t spend as much time on a bike before this event as I probably should have. With Christmas and that, I took a bit of a much needed break to recoup.
“Seventh is not good enough for me. But with about six weeks until round three I have some time to get race sharp again. I hate having a night like that so I’m going to bust my ass now to turn things around. I’ll come out swinging again in Spain, that’s for sure.”
With a break in the schedule, SuperEnduro resumes with the final two rounds of the series on back-to-back weekends in March, starting with the GP of Spain on March 18th.
2017 SuperEnduro Germany Results
FIM Maxxis SuperEnduro World Championship, Round 2, Prestige Class
- Colton Haaker (Husqvarna) 63pts
- Alfredo Gomez (KTM) 50
- Jonny Walker (KTM) 49
- Mario Roman (Sherco) 37
- Pascal Rauchenecker (Husqvarna) 35
- Eloi Salsench (Beta) 26
- Mike Brown (Husqvarna) 25
- Rannar Ussna (KTM) 21
- Pittens Wesley (Yamaha) 16
- David Leonov (Husqvarna) 14
- John Nystrom (KTM) 12
- Aurelien Addesso (Beta) 6
2017 SuperEnduro Points after Round 2
- Colton Haaker (Husqvarna) 117pts
- Alfredo Gomez (KTM) 94
- Jonny Walker (KTM) 91
- Mario Roman 59
- Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) 58
- Mike Brown (Husqvarna) 56
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