The Basque Show!

We witnessed another great night of SuperEnduro last Saturday at the Bizkaia Arena in Bilbao, which culminated in a shake-up for the Prestige class. Let’s look back at the highlights of this 4th round of the season…

Official Visit

On the occasion of the second Euskadi GP in the history of the SuperEnduro World Championship, we had the honour of welcoming the CEO of the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM): Mr Steve AESCHLIMANN! At his very first visit to a SEWC event, Mr AESCHLIMANN was able to take the time to speak with all the riders in the discipline, meet his FIM delegates, the promoter, and the team managers. He also handed the winner’s trophy to Taddy BLAZUSIAK (PL - KTM) at the end of the night...

Aeschlimann
Steve AESCHLIMANN with BLAZUSIAK and WEBB

The Marseillaise Plays!

Never before in SuperEnduro have we had the opportunity to hear the Marseillaise on a podium. Previous SEWC star Mathias BELLINO (F), despite winning a few heats in the past, never got to hear the French National Anthem. But now, thanks to Adrien JACON's seriously good form (F - KTM) in the European class, history has been made! The protégé of Pierre-Marie CASTELLA and Fred WEILL won out in his duels with the two title contenders: Tim APOLLE (D - Husqvarna) and Andris GRINFELDS (LET - KTM). The Latvian and Frenchman are 15 and 16 points behind the German respectively, and everything remains to be decided at the final round in Sweden on March 31!

Tenacious Taddy!

After his shocking crash in Malaga, everyone hoped that Taddy BLAZUSIAK (PL - KTM) would be 100% fit to fight in Bilbao. But it was revealed that the Pole suffered an infection in his elbow following the off. After the first race, where he snatched second place, he admitted: “I’m lacking juice! This infection has tired me out and today I'm not 100%, I can’t find my usual fire and I’m losing energy fast!” Despite that, and after finishing second in the first two races of the night, the six-time World Champion took full advantage of Cody WEBB's (USA - KTM) recurring falls in the third race to impressively win his second GP of the season and get closer to the top of the rankings. This means we’ll be promised a crazy finale at the Sparbanken Arena in Lidköping (Sweden) on March 31st!

Junior

Sponsor’s Visit

After Martin WABNEGGER's visit to Malaga for Motorex and Ashkan AGHILI for 24MX, in Bilbao the FIM Maxxis SuperEnduro World Championship hosted a representative from one of its most loyal sponsors: Scott Sports. Indeed, Marco GALLI was present in the Bizkaia Arena to experience the evening of madness. The Italian admitted to being a big fan of the discipline which combines pure sport and spectacular show!

Top Organisation

Close collaborators with ABC Communication for two years, with the organisation of an EnduroGP round in 2016 and a round of SuperEnduro in 2017, the Idubaltza Kirol Kluba chaired by Imanol TARRAMONA have once again demonstrated great professionalism. Composed mostly of young people between the ages of 25 and 35, this Moto Club is a real example of seriousness and dynamism for many clubs. All their efforts were rewarded as they built on the success they achieved last season. Congratulations to Imanol, Alvaro BASARETE and the whole team from Idubaltza Kirol Kluba!

Press Conference

What better backdrop for a Press Conference than the Bilbao City Hall with the Guggenheim Museum just steps away? Alvaro BASARETE and the Moto Club Press Officer, Javier ALONSO, invited the local press and Basque TV Euskal Telebista (ETB) to this special conference, attended by Cody WEBB, David KNIGHT (GB - Gas Gas), Cristobal GUERRERO (E - Yamaha) and Benjamin HERRERA (CL - TM). As well as Bastien BLANCHARD (ABC Communication) and Pedro MARIANO (FIM)...

Conference

Lesson in Courage

For three weeks already, the Spanish rider Ignacio FERNANDEZ (KTM) has had two fractured metacarpi his right hand. This means that for the last two rounds, "Nachette" has ridden with pins in his hand. A fine example of courage and strength comes from the 23-year-old hopeful, who still did well with “only one hand”: 7th in Malaga and 6th in Bilbao. Well known in Spain for his popular Vlogs, we invite you to check out his videos from Malaga and Bilbao on his YouTube channel, the suffering which FERNANDEZ has endured will be clear...

All’s well that ends well…

It goes without saying that the third race of the evening in Bilbao was a real ordeal for the current leader of the Prestige category, Cody WEBB. The American dropped his bike 5 times during this one race (including three times in one lap) and one of his crashes saw his KTM hit a marshal... In the heat of the race for the title, and seeing the young volunteer moving and assisted by medics, WEBB resumed the race. He then went to check on the marshal, named Goiuri, as soon as the race was over. Just two days later, the pair found themselves at the KTM tests taking place near Bilbao and Cody WEBB, who once again apologised for the collision, also offered her his signed jersey. For her part, the young woman was anxious to reassure the Champion and the SuperEnduro community on social media, stating: “I'm fine! The collision with the bike was less brutal than it seemed... I got out with only a few scratches on my arm. I fully understand that Cody, in the heat of the moment, did not want to stop. But at the end of his race, he immediately came to see me for news of my health. I want to congratulate Cody on his 3rd place!
A great example of sportsmanship shining through despite the scary experience for both parties. 

Webb