Round six of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship at Red Bull TKO in Tennessee, USA, saw GASGAS Factory Racing’s Taddy Blazusiak continue his return to form following injury by battling up front. With strong pace throughout the qualifying and knockout races, the EC 300 rider eventually finished in a confidence-building 11th overall.
Easing competitors into Red Bull TKO, an early morning Hot-Lap qualifying session on a shortened course decided the starting order for the first of three knockout races with Taddy on the gas and clocking the fourth fastest time.
After a relatively easy start to the day, Knockout Race 1 was up next for Blazusiak where a long lap and much more technical terrain was on the menu. Needing to post a time in the top 25 to transfer onto Knockout Race 2, the EC 300 rider showed he’s returning to form by finishing second.
With his confidence building, it was then onto Knockout Race 2. Again doing exactly what he needed to do to progress through to the final, Taddy rode smart for seventh position.
Having enjoyed a strong ride throughout the event so far, the Final Knockout race saw Taddy’s lack of bike time catch up with him in the points-paying sprint race. Pushing on to the finish and knowing he’d made positive progress throughout the day, a solid 11th place result was decent considering his largely disrupted year.
Top GASGAS finisher at Red Bull TKO was Spain’s Alfredo Gomez who enjoyed a strong run through the knockout races and placed seventh in the final.
The FIM Hard Enduro World Championship stays in North America for round seven of the series and the Red Bull Outliers event in Canada on August 27-28.
Taddy Blazusiak: “Overall Red Bull TKO has been really positive. Things were going good until the final when my lack of seat time due to injury caught up with me. Up until then I felt great on the bike and my speed was good, so I’m really happy about that. I just need more time on the bike to build up some fitness and that will make things easier. For sure it’s not the result I wanted but the bigger picture is that my speed is where it needs to be. We have two weeks until the next one and I’ll be on the bike as much as possible before we head to Canada.”
Results - Round 6, Red Bull TKO 2022
1. Trystan Hart (KTM) 5 laps
2. Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) +1:19.577
3. Mario Roman (Sherco) +58.055
7. Alfredo Gomez (GASGAS) 4 laps, +26.267
11. Taddy Blazusiak (GASGAS) +1:01.386