Everett, WA (August 15, 2011) — The 2011 GEICO AMA EnduroCross series, presented by Lucas Oil made a huge impact as part of the X Games less than two weeks ago then the riders made the trip up to the Pacific Northwest to race in the Comcast Arena in Everett Washington. And just like at the X Games, Taddy Blazusiak rode his Factory KTM 350 to the win. Geoff Aaron finished second on his GEICO Honda while Cody Webb rounded out the podium on his factory Beta.
Cody Webb and Everett Washington
Photo: Drew Ruiz
The afternoon got started with the timed qualifying laps to determine the gate picks for the heat races. Blazusiak set the fastest time followed by Aaron, Graham Jarvis, Mike Brown and Colton Haaker. The "Hot Laps" determine the gate picks for the heat races.
Blazusiak, Webb and Jarvis each won their heat races to get direct transfers to the main event. Webb has really stepped up his game for EnduroCross and looks like he will be a regular podium contender. Jarvis made the trip from England to compete in a few North American off road events and showed that he is a contender. The biggest surprise non-qualifier for the main event was Monster Kawasaki's Taylor Robert who could not re-fire his bike after stalling in his semi.
When the gate dropped for the main event, Blazusiak immediately took the lead but could not shake the field for the first three laps. Brown, Webb and Aaron all stayed very close and began a fierce battle that slowed each of them and allowed Blazusiak to pull away. Aaron eventually took control of second and Webb fought back to third after a few mistakes. Brown took fourth just ahead of Graham Jarvis. Jarvis rode a very steady race but seemed uncomfortable with the high intensity of the first few laps. Lucas Oil backed Haaker finished sixth ahead of Oregon's Kevin Rookstool. Justin Soule finished eighth on the Monster Energy Kawasaki ahead of Gary Sutherlin, Wally Palmer and an unlucky Bobby Prochnau. The top Canadian off road motorcycle racer had worked his way to fourth but a derailed chain ended his race.
In the end, Blazusiak lapped all the way up to third place, which is an amazing display of skill with such a strong field of riders that included Aaron, a 10 time AMA Trials Champion, Cody Webb, the 2010 Trials Champion and Jarvis, who just this year has won the Romaniacs, Tough One and Hells Gate Extreme Enduro events.
In addition to the Expert class, EnduroCross events include Amateur, Vet 35+ and TrialsCross classes. The top two finishers in each class also earn a spot in the Vegas Grand Championship Finals for each respective class. The Vet class was won by Shane Culberson over Joe Kopp and Billy Baldwin. The Amateur class was won by Ben Rego over Matt Crouch and Keith Curtis. The TrialsCross class was won by Max Nelson ahead of Paul Neff and Teddy Hahn.
Due to the X Games buzz for the Women's class and a large number of female riders interested in competing, the Everett round also included a Women's class. Seattle native and X Games gold medal winner Maria Forsberg took the win after literally dragging her bike across the finish line just ahead of Canada's Victory Hett. Chantelle Bykerk finished third ahead of Christy Williams and Kendall Reed.
Shane culberson?????
