ENDUROCROSS
AMA ENDUROCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 1 / AUGUST 27, 2016
INFINITE ENERGY ARENA / DULUTH, GEORGIA
P58
win to Beta's Max Gerston. The
heat-race winners earn a valu-
able championship point, which
proved to be critical in last year's
tight battle between Haaker and
Webb. When the top six riders
returned for the evening Hot
Laps, Haaker set the fast time to
earn the other bonus point avail-
able for the evening, effectively
erasing the heat race blunder.
When the main event rolled
around, Blazusiak jumped out of
the gate first to take the $500
Nexen Tire Holeshot award. The
Polish rider took last season
off from racing in the U.S. and
is looking to re-claim his title.
But Haaker had other ideas and
made a pass for the lead in the
firewood pit on lap two. Webb
was close behind in third but
took a few more laps to work his
way past Blazusiak, who made
a big mistake in the rock pile
on lap four to open the door for
Webb. The mistake also allowed
Gerston to take over third and
the Beta rider held the position
until lap ten of the 15-lap final be-
fore Blazusiak found a way past.
Haaker steadily opened up
his lead, which stretched out to
seven seconds with one lap to
go. He backed off on the final
lap to win by just over three
seconds and take the points
lead in what is expected to be
a tight battle between the riders
that shared the podium. It was
a pretty dominant performance
considering that all three of the
top riders were together early in
the race.
