_ KTM News Release_
**
Denver, CO** – Christini/KTM rider Geoff Aaron earned his first win of the season at the fifth round of the AMA EnduroCross Series held at the National Western Complex in front of his hometown crowd.
The past four rounds of the series have been dominated by Red Bull/KTM rider Taddy Blazusiak. Aaron went into this race with one objective – to finish first. “With EnduroCross racing, it is a matter of being consistent each lap and making the fewest mistakes. That is how I won tonight,” commented Aaron after his victory.
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Aaron had a spill of bad luck in the early morning hot laps. He was making good time until a crash halfway through his lap lengthened his time. Blazusiak set to the track following Aaron’s run and managed to turn the fastest qualifying time on his KTM 250 XC. Blazusiak’s 1:03.185 was two seconds faster than the next fastest qualifying time.
Blazusiak’s top qualifying time earned him the first gate pick in heat number one. Off the start Blazusiak got pinched off heading into the turn, but miraculously put his bike back into the pack and squeezed a 3rd place start around the end of the first corner. By the second corner he had already moved into 2nd place and shortly after he passed Kyle Redmond for the lead position through the firewood pit. Blazusiak continued to lead the entire heat easily taking the win. Kyle Redmond finished 2nd to take the final transfer position of heat number one while RPM/KTM rider Kevin Rookstool finished 3rd missing the main event by one.
Heat number two turned out to be an even tighter start as the riders headed into the first corner. Aaron came around turn one in 3rd position but made a mistake crashing in the log rhythm section on the next straight and dropped back a few spots. He was quick to recover and by the end of the third lap had launched himself into 2nd place closing in on current leader Cory Graffunder. On the fourth lap, Aaron and Graffunder were side by side. A crash by Graffunder handed Aaron the lead and he went on to win heat number two.
The third heat was won by Justin Soule followed by the 2nd place ride of Colton Haaker. KTM privateer Ryan Sandoval, in his first pro appearance, wowed the Denver audience as he took a semi win to qualify into the main. In addition, Sandoval also won the Open Amateur and Trialscross races – not too bad for a 17 year-old rookie.
In the last chance qualifier, Kevin Rookstool took a big holeshot and led the first lap. His lead was short lived as a crash on the second lap moved him back to second position. Rookstool would hang on to 2nd place to take the final transfer spot into the main behind LCQ winner Cody Webb.
Blazusiak had a great jump off the start of the main event taking the holeshot and the early lead. On the tail of Blazusiak were Redmond, Aaron, Haaker and Soule. Blazusiak held the lead around the first lap through multiple battles with Haaker who made contact with the KTM rider in the boulder section in the back and right after the finish. As the riders crossed the first lap mark they came together in a turn that forced both riders to the ground and allowed a patient Aaron to take over the lead. As they headed to the tire jumps Aaron was leading followed by Soule, Haaker and Blazusiak.
For the next few laps Aaron rode strong out front while it seemed as if Blazusiak was struggling to
find a rhythm. Blazusiak reported after the race that he had lost his front brakes on the first lap. “I’m not sure if I hit my disk on a rock or when I crashed with Colton but it bent my rotor and I had no front brakes and couldn’t charge into the turns,” reported the reigning champ.
Despite Blazusiak’s troubles he managed to stay close to the 3rd place ride of Haaker. On the final lap Blazusiak pressured Haaker for the position that could win Blazusiak the championship one round early. Meanwhile, Aaron had gone down and allowed Soule to close the gap for the lead. Aaron recovered maintaining his lead position with heavy pressure from Soule who was now just a bike length away. While in pursuit of Aaron, Soule went down which allowed Aaron to strengthen his lead out front and take his first victory of the season. As Aaron crossed the checkers, the crowd was still eagerly watching Blazusiak who was right on the rear tire of Haaker. The riders were side by side through the boulder section when Blazusiak lost traction and went down. Soule would finish in 2nd followed by Haaker in 3rd, Redmond in 4th and Blazusiak in a disappointing 5th overall.
“Today was very disappointing. I had hoped to wrap up the championship here but had some troubles on the track that kept me from accomplishing that goal. Now it will go down to the last round. It is not how I wanted it but hopefully I can put on one more good show for the fans as I work toward earning my second championship in Las Vegas,” remarked Blazusiak.
With one round to go Blazusiak still holds a commanding lead of 136 points over Aaron’s 115. However, as we saw in Denver, anything can happen in EnduroCross. “I know it may seem like a long shot, but I still have my fingers crossed and am going to work hard toward the championship at Vegas,” stated Aaron.
Next Event: Las Vegas, NV – November 20, 2010
Overall Results
1) Geoff Aaron – KTM 2) Justin Soule 3) Colton Haaker 4) Kyle Redmond 5) Taddy Blazusiak – KTM 6) Gary Sutherlin 7) Cody Webb 8) Cory Graffunder 9) Kevin Rookstool – KTM 10) Jamie Lanza 11) Ryan Sandoval – KTM
geoff aaron, ex, podium, win, ktm rider, denver endurocross, dirt rider magazine