After a strong start to his championship campaign in Poland, where he claimed a runner-up result to Blazusiak, Cody Webb quickly got down to business in Germany. Stamping his authority on the Akrapovic SuperPole with the fastest lap time, he began his night in determined fashion.
Starting race one third, the American quickly worked his way around leaders Colton Haaker and Jonny Walker to claim the opening win of the night. With the start order reversed for race two always proving decisive, Webb cut his way through the field to place a hard-earned third. Going on to win the third and final race of the night, Cody ended round two on the top step of the podium and with it the took over the championship’s points lead.
Cody Webb: “It’s great to end the night with both the overall win and the championship points lead. I almost had it in Poland so to get it done here in Germany is brilliant. Overall, it was a pretty good night. I won SuperPole and that gave me an added boost of confidence. Like Poland I won the first and final race, only this time I had a much-improved result in race two. I feel like I still have a bit more work to do there, which is something I can build on towards round three in Bilbao, Spain.”
After securing the overall victory at round one in Poland, in Germany Taddy Blazusiak was hungry to keep his winning momentum going. Despite a poor start in race one he regrouped well to fight his way back up to fourth. In race two, Blazusiak hit the front from the off and initially looked to have claimed a start-to-finish win. But in making the mistake of jumping the concrete pipe obstacle on the first lap, something that all riders were told not to do, he was later docked 10 seconds, dropping to sixth.
Putting that disappointment behind him, Blazusiak put on a charge in race three to finish second to Webb and with it end his night third overall.
Taddy Blazusiak: “It’s been a good night, unfortunately not quite as good as Poland but I’ll take third overall. I was riding good in each race. I felt strong, my fitness was stronger than Poland and I could push right through. I made a silly mistake by jumping the concrete pipe off the start in the second race and was docked 10 seconds as a result. I hold my hands up, I completely forgot that we had to roll it off the start and having got the holeshot I got a little carried away. It wasn’t until I was in the air I realised my error. But we’ll deal with it and move on to round three.”
For Jonny Walker, round two of the 2018 SuperEnduro World Championship ended with a much-improved performance over round one in Poland. Placing a strong third in race one, his best finish of the night, Walker went on to place seventh and fourth for fifth overall.
Jonny Walker: “Tonight was much improved over Poland. I felt like I was riding a lot better. Race one was my best result of the night with third, but race two was my best performance. I got tangled up on the start, was last to get going and really had to work hard to get back up there. Of course, I want to finish on the podium and to be fighting for the overall win, but like I said I feel like I rode well.”
Putting in a strong performance on home soil, Manuel Lettenbichler finished seventh overall.
The FIM SuperEnduro World Championship continues with round three in Malaga, Spain on February 17th.
Results – 2018 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship, Round 2
PRESTIGE CLASS OVERALL
1. Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 58 pts (1-3-1)
2. Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 45 pts (2-1-7)
3. Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 43 pts (4-6-2)
4. Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 39 pts (5-4-3)
5. Jonny Walker (GBR), KTM, 37 pts (3-7-4)
Other KTM
7. Manuel Lettenbichler (DEU), KTM, 27 pts (6-5-6)
PRESTIGE RACE 1
1. Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 7:27.268
2. Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 7:44.877 +17.609
3. Jonny Walker (GBR), KTM, 7:48.184 +20.916
4. Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 7:54.616 +27.348
5. Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 7:59.974 +32.706
Other KTM
6. Manuel Lettenbichler (DEU), KTM, 8:01.938 +34.670
PRESTIGE RACE 2
1. Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 6:57.242
2. Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 7:00.773 +3.531
3. Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 7:01.628 +4.386
4. Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 7:06.339 +9.097
5. Manuel Lettenbichler (DEU), KTM, 7:13.357 +16.115
Other KTM
6. Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 7:14.773 +17.531
7. Jonny Walker (GBR), KTM, 7.212.82 +24.040
PRESTIGE RACE 3
1. Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 7:29.752
2. Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 7:36.774 +7.022
3. Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 7:44.550 +14.798
4. Jonny Walker (GBR), KTM, 7:53.747 +23.995
5. Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 7:53.753 +24.001
Other KTM
6. Manuel Lettenbichler (DEU), KTM, 7:55.064 +25.312
Photos Future7 Media/ KTM Images