Christini/KTM Rider Geoff Aaron Wins Denver EnduroCross – Round 5

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.

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 3^rd
place start around the end of the first corner. By the second corner
he had already moved into 2^nd
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 2^nd
to take the final transfer position of heat number one while RPM/KTM
rider Kevin Rookstool finished 3^rd
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 3^rd
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 2^nd
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 Soulè followed by the 2^nd
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 2^nd
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 Soulè. 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 Soulè, 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 3^rd
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 Soulè to close the
gap for the lead. Aaron recovered maintaining his lead position with
heavy pressure from Soulè who was now just a bike length away. While
in pursuit of Aaron, Soulè 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. Soulè would finish in 2^nd
followed by Haaker in 3^rd,
Redmond in 4^th
and Blazusiak in a disappointing 5^th
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 Soulè

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