Jean Turner | February 22, 2016
After a seven-week break in the series, the 2016 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship resumed with round three taking riders to Pinamar, Argentina for the first outdoor event of the year. The sandy, jump-filled course prompted a shift in championship – one that saw KTM’s Jonny Walker take his first victory of the season and also take control of the points. Walker had a nearly perfect night, topping the overall podium with two race wins and a second-place finish in Argentina. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Colton Haaker collected second overall, marking his best finish thus far in the championship. Cody Webb, who came to Pinamar with the points lead, conversely saw his worst finish yet, taking third on the night.
Walker came into round three trailing Webb by a mere two points, but now holds an 11-point advantage in the SuperEnduro World Championship thanks to his dominant win. “Tonight was nearly all about the starts and riding smart,” Walker continued. “I managed to do that in races one and two. Then I had a bad start in race three but fought my way up to second. It feels awesome to lead the championship and I can’t wait to race in Brazil next weekend.”
(L-R) Colton Haaker, Jonny Walker and Cody Webb made up the SuperEnduro World Championship podium in Argentina. Photography by KTM/Future7Media
Haaker managed to land on the podium in each of the night’s three main events, showing consistency with his 2-2-3 tally. “I had some great battles on the track with Jonny and Cody so getting second overall is definitely good,” said Haaker. “In the first race I was really close to Jonny. I led race two for quite some time but made mistakes – stalled my bike twice and ended up crashing. That’s where Jonny passed me. Then in the last race I was catching Cody and had another strange crash where my footpeg got caught in an inside corner. Overall I can’t complain. I proved I’m more than capable of getting the win.”
Webb’s night had some ups and downs—quite literally. The AMA EnduroCross Champion started off strong as he topped the Akrapovic SuperPole, but a bad start in race one left him playing catch up, where he finished sixth. He came out swinging in the second race only to crash hard, leaving him to finish fourth. Only in the third race did he show his true skill, finally taking the win, and salvaging an overall podium finish.
“I’m a little bummed to be honest,” Webb confessed. “I just didn’t have a good night. I made some silly mistakes, had a couple of bad starts and one big crash in race three. Thankfully I regrouped to win the final race and salvage third overall. It’s tough to lose control of the points race but I’m not going to dwell on that too much. I’ll be on the attack again for Brazil.”
Alfredo Gomez took fourth overall followed by fellow KTM rider Taylor Robert. Reigning Junior SuperEnduro World Champion Ty Tremaine claimed a career-best third in the first race, and went on to take sixth on the night. Meanwhile, TM rider Ben Herrera took the Junior class victory—beating Manuel Lettenbichler for the first time this season.
Defending prestige-class champion Taddy Blazusiak was noticeably absent from the action in Argentina. Blazusiak broke his thumb (and also lost a chunk of it) in an accident nearly three weeks ago, and had surgery only two weeks prior to the Argentina round. The six-time champion still decided to make the trek to Pinamar, where he attempted to ride practice, but he was unable to compete in the night show, saying via Instagram, “Tried riding practice but couldn’t hold on to the bars; my thumb needs a few more weeks. Thanks to all the fans and sponsors for all the support.”
SuperEnduro Prestige Class Results:
- Jonny Walker (1-1-2)
- Colton Haaker (2-2-3)
- Cody Webb (6-4-1)
- Alfredo Gomez (5-3-4)
- Taylor Robert (4-5-5)
- Ty Tremaine (3-8-8)
- Mario Roman (7-6-6)
- Kevin Rookstool (8-7-7)
Full Results
