ROUND 4/AUGUST 4, 2013
STAPLES CENTER/LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
X GAMES ENDURO X SERIES
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GARTH MILAN/ESPN IMAGES
OFF-ROAD
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of the main, despite getting out to
a midpack start. The JCR Honda
rider admits he was feeling great,
and thinking that the gold was
within his reach before a small
mistake cost him a podium position.
"The day started out great; I
qualified first in practice," Haaker
said. "I was feeling great, I liked
the track."
He chased down Webb for
third and then slipped into second after Brown fumbled a rock
section. From there, he set his
sights on Blazusiak.
"Taddy had a pretty good gap
and then I closed on him," Haaker said. "I was really focused and
felt great. I was like, 'Dude, I'm
going to get this gold medal!' I
just got excited and got ahead of
myself. I fumbled in the firewood
and lost my front end."
Haaker recovered quickly,
but not before Brown and Webb
got around him and dashed his
hopes of claiming an medal.
For Brown, it was solid effort, especially considering the
41-year-old pulled double duty on
the weekend, having also raced
the Moto X event on Saturday
night. Webb was also quite satisfied with his performance, especially given that it was his first
race back from injury.
Since medaling in the first
Global X Games Enduro X of
2013 in Foz do Iquacu, Brazil,
(Left) The AMA EnduroCross champ,
Blazusiak, led it from start to finish.
(Right) Mike Brown kept the
pressure on the leader the whole
way.
Webb had been on the sidelines
with a broken foot. It was still a bit
early to be racing again, but fortunately Webb was cleared to race
at Summer X Games just in time.
Webb put in a great performance
despite having lacked practice
time, but is now looking forward
to training hard in the next several
weeks before the AMA EnduroCross Series resumes.
Another formerly injured rider
was ready to get back into the
mix at the Staples Center: Wom-
