VOL. 53 ISSUE 33 AUGUST 23, 2016 P87
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's Colton Haaker,
the reigning FIM Super Enduro World Cham-
pion, was not happy how the TKO race turned
out for him. That will happen when you don't
qualify for the main. "I'm disappointed with how
things ended," Haaker said. "Not making the fi-
nal race of the day was far from ideal but some-
times these things happen in racing. Up until
the second Knockout race, I was having a re-
ally good day. I finished second in the Hot Lap
qualifier and then went on to finish 38 seconds
behind Cody Webb for the runner-up position
in the first Knockout heat. Unfortunately, then
while leading my group in the second Knockout
heat I had a little crash and somehow damaged
the bike on the rocks and it refused to start
for me. We managed to fix the problem and I
rode as hard as I could to the finish line but just
missed out on making it through for the final. I'm
disappointed, I really felt like I had a chance for
a strong overall result but it just didn't happen."
In fact, it wasn't a great day for the Rockstar
Energy Husqvarna Team in general. At least the
two-time TKO Champion, Mike Brown, made
it to the main, but an injury prevented him from
finishing. Team Manager Tim Weigand, said,
"He [Brown] battled his way through the elimi-
nation races and was running a comfortable
third in the final race. But with a couple of laps
to go he crashed on a slippery uphill and in the
process caught his chest and stomach with the
handlebars. He's a tough guy and tried to carry
on but was hurting and so took the wise option
to stop."
For Wade Young, who is no stranger to ex-
treme racing around the world, this was his first
time competing in the U.S. "This was my first
time in the U.S. and it was good," said Young.
"I think in terms of difficulty, this event is right
up there. This format was shorter and high in-
tensity with no place to rest on the track so if
you made one mistake, it carried through to the
next obstacle. It was a tough; so intense that it
made you almost sick, but it was good."
Briefly...
