Blazusiak Back on Top at Sacramento EnduroCross

GEICO EnduroCross Championship Series
Round 2: Power Balance Pavilion

Courtesy of GEICO
Photos by Drew Ruiz
SACRAMENTO, CA, JUNE 7, 2012

For round two of the 2012 GEICO AMA EnduroCross Championship, presented by Lucas Oil, the series found its way for the first time ever to Northern California, and KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak found his way back to the top of the podium. He was joined on the rostrum by Monster Kawasaki’s Taylor Robert and GEICO Honda’s Kevin Rookstool. Husqvarna’s Cory Graffunder made a last-second pass on Mike Brown to take fourth; Brown held on to fifth.

Taddy Blazusiak (111) was victorious at round two of the GEICO EnduroCross Championship Series.

Blazusiak had to work hard for his win, as Rookstool beat him to the first turn and then led for several laps until he crashed while leading. By that point, Blazusiak had worked his way up to second after spending a few laps behind Destry Abbott.

Then the battle for second was intense, as Beta’s Cody Webb made his way to the front of the battle that included Rookstool, Abbott and Mike Brown. Robert had started the race in last place after a first-turn altercation but eventually passed several riders to take second.

Taylor Robert (33) came from last place to finish runner-up at the series’ first-ever visit to Sacramento, California’s Power Balance Pavilion.

Rookstool had intense pressure from Brown for the final podium spot when they both went down in separate incidents in the water hole. Rookstool got up first to get the spot, and then Graffunder passed Brown right at the finish. Bobby Garrison finished sixth, Webb was seventh after his crash, Gary Sutherlin was eighth and Abbott ninth.

Despite an unplanned trip to the old swimmin’ hole, Kevin Rookstool (11) still managed to grab the last spot on the podium.

Corey Graffunder (115) slid past Mike Brown right at the stripe to swipe fourth.

Mike Brown (311) logged a fifth-place finish at the Sacramento round.

Colton Haaker, the series points leader coming into Sacramento, had a tough night, as an early crash and then a stall put him a lap down and in 10th position. Geoff Aaron had a worse night; after taking a long time to restart his machine, he finished 11th in the main.

The day got started with the MVP Racing’s Hot Laps, and KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak shocked everybody by jumping all the way over the five logs that made up the “Matrix” just in front of the finish line to set the fastest lap time. Haaker, the Las Vegas winner, had the second-fastest time, just ahead of Beta’s Cody Webb. Abbott and Sutherlin rounded out the top five. The hot-lap times earn riders bragging rights and determine the gate picks for the heat races.

Blazusiak took over the points lead, ahead of Haaker, Robert, Rookstool and Graffunder.

The evening also included the Support classes. The Open Amateur class was won by Bryan Roper, ahead of Tucker Larrieu and Tyler Murray. Canada’s Stephen Foord won the Vet class, over Tod Sciacqua and Eric Ducray. Dirt Rider magazine associate editor Chris Green won the TrialsCross class, ahead of Dustin McCarthy and Ty Tremaine.

The Women’s class had 12 riders, and Louise Forsley won an exciting race, over Chantelle Bykerk, who took the lead on the last lap but then got stuck in the Matrix just in front of the finish line. Maria Forsberg had the lead for a short time before a crash took her out, but she rebounded to fight back to third.

The X Games will host the next round of the GEICO EnduroCross Championship on Sunday, July 1, inside the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The X Games event will air live on ESPN networks and the remaining GEICO AMA EnduroCross events will be aired on the “Lucas Motorsports Hour” on the NBC Sports Network. Check your local listings or www.motorsportshour.com. The Sacramento round is scheduled to air on Saturday, July 8, at 5 p.m. EST.

Winner Louise Forsley (center), runner-up Chantelle Bykerk (right) and third-place finisher Maria Forsberg (left) comprised the Women’s podium.

Power Balance Pavilion
Sacramento, California
Results: June 7, 2012 (Round 2)

EX: 1. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM); 2. Taylor Robert (Kaw); 3. Kevin Rookstool (Hon); 4. Cory Graffunder (Hsq); 5. Mike Brown (KTM); 6. Bobby Garrison (Kaw); 7. Cody Webb (Bet); 8. Gary Sutherlin (Kaw); 9. Destry Abbott (Kaw); 10. Colton Haaker (Kaw); 11. Geoff Aaron (Hon).

OPEN AM: 1. Bryan Roper; 2. Tucker Larrieu; 3. Tyler Murray.

WOMEN: 1. Louise Forsley; 2. Chantelle Bykerk; 3. Maria Forsberg.

VET: 1. Stephen Foord; 2. Tod Sciacqua; 3. Eric Ducray.

TRIALSCROSS: 1. Chris Green; 2. Dustin McCarthy; 3. Ty Tremaine.