Enduro
Endurocross specialist Taddy Blazusiak is signed up for round one of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies.
Taddy Blazusiak gets his feet wet in rally racing with an entry in round one of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies in Abu Dhabi on April 6-11. We caught up with Blazusiak to find out more about what brought him to Abu Dhabi…
Why have you decided to race the first round of the FIM Cross Country Rallies in Abu Dhabi?
“When I looked at my calendar of events I realised that I had a small window of opportunity to give this a try. I spoke to a few people about my idea and things quickly took shape. One of my sponsors, Orlen, actually runs a team in the series, so together with them, KTM, Red Bull, USWE and everyone that supports me I was able to make it happen.”
Your first taste of rally was at the Desafio Litoral in Argentina during July 2012. But racing here in Abu Dhabi will be your first true taste of rally. Are you excited about that?
“Yeah, I can’t wait to get out there. I really enjoyed the Desafio Litoral, but there were no sand dunes to contend with. Here in Abu Dhabi there are only sand dunes and some of them are huge. This is what rally racing is all about and why I wanted to make this race.”
Have you ever raced in sand like this before?
“No, not even on my enduro bike! On Wednesday, of this week, we did some testing and I began to get a feel for things. We only rode for about 50km so it’s hard to learn anything in that short amount of time but I felt comfortable and I’m confident in what I can do on the bike.”
What goals and expectations have you set yourself for the event?
“I’m just here to have fun and enjoy the experience. This is not my sport so I won’t be risking anything to win. My main goal is to learn as much as possible and get a feel for things. In Argentina my main issue was navigation. Reading the road book at high speed is still alien to me. If, by the end of the week I can get comfortable reading the road book while racing in sand then I’ll have achieved a lot.”
Given your interest in rally, are thoughts of a possible start in the Dakar Rally in the back of your mind?
“As soon as I sat on a rally bike people immediately asked me ‘oh, what about Dakar’. Of course it’s something that interests me. It’s a race that every guy that ever raced an enduro bike wants to do. But for now those thoughts are buried in the back of my mind. Endurocross is my only focus - it takes up all of my time. It’s not possible to jump from my endurocross bike to a rally bike and be competitive on both.”
With X-Games Brazil just around the corner many people might question why you’re here racing rally. How has your preparation been for X-Games?
“I’m ready. I’ve been working my butt off to be ready for Brazil and I can’t wait to get there. Racing the SuperEnduro World Championship was a big part of that preparation and since the final round of that series in France I’ve put a lot of laps in on my test tracks. I’m really excited about going to Brazil. X-Games series is going to be huge and I’m in it to win it.”