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Jonny Walker wins Eddy's Extreme Enduro Indoor

Jonny Walker won the inaugural Eddy's Extreme Enduro Indoor at Stafford on an unforgettable day that was full of drama. Paul Edmondson's Indoor Extreme ambition has been long in the planning and it all came together in the vast hall of Stafford County Showground this weekend. 

The Fast Eddy team laid out a fantastic course that flowed over rocks, logs and tyres and earned the approval of some of the World's top Extreme riders. 

The day started with the Pro class practice session. Taddy Blazusiak and Jonny Walker were straight into race mode - cranking up 14 laps each with Taddy setting the fastest time. David Knight took his time and only needed 10 laps to set the second fastest. It was a great start to a very exciting day.

Gary Daniels, Dan Mundel and Charlie Frost were the top three in the Expert A practice session. Joe Chambers, Kevin Murray and Biff Smith were the quickest in Expert B. The top 3 Clubmen were William Hoare, Ryan Phillips and Alex Walton. Sportsmen/Vets Martin Craven, Chris Downham and Karl Greenhall and Youths Tom Widd, Sam Nunn and Harry Edmondson.

The course base consisted of a revolutionary material that resembled sand. It was manufactured onsite from recycled fibres that held together very well and between heats the Fast Eddy JCBs and rollers rumbled out to refreshed the going.

Before a break for lunch the morning session ended on a high with the Pro timed practice followed by the Hot Lap for a first prize of £250. The rock section was a highlight of the Fast Eddy course as it was divided by a large tree trunk which gave the riders the option of a long and short route, Taddy Blazusiak and Jonny Walker planted their left boot on the tractor tyre that defined the corner and pirouetted over the timber. David Knight gave it a good kicking but Paul Bolton was the neatest - bunny hopping and spinning through 180 degrees in the air. 

Taddy Blazusiak won the dash for cash by the narrowest margins of 2 tenths of a second from David Knight. Jonny Walker was 3rd. Ben Hemingway crashed in the rock section and aggravated an existing thumb injury which immediately turned a worrying shade of blue. 

After lunch the afternoon session kicked off with the first of 2 Expert A finals. Kevin Murray was the quickest ahead of Gary Daniels and Biff Smith. In the 2nd race Gary Daniels took the win from Kevin Murray and Joe Chambers. The Expert B class was won by

Joe Wright topped the Youth class with a double win ahead of Henry Yardley in a close second place and Harry Edmondson in 3rd despite a couple of "offs",  Kurt Weston was the best Sportsman. Chris Downham and Barney Thurgood would have completed the podium. Ageless Martin Craven won the Vets. Chris Salt made his family proud by finishing runer up and Karl Greenall was 3rd.

The Pro final was run over 3 races. Jonny Walker led the opening heat from start to finish. David Knight made a bad start, getting tangled in a crash on turn one. He rounded turn two in last position but quickly made his way through the field up to third. David caught Taddy but every time he tried to make a move he lost time as the main line was fast and made it pretty difficult to pass. David eventually ended the race in 3rd.

Taddy Blazusiak made a good start to the second heat taking a tight line around the first corner with Jonny Walker alongside but as the two riders went into the second corner Taddy inexplicably went down. The gasp of surprise and sympathy from the crowd could have been heard in Poland. Jonny Walker took the lead but he got stranded on the tree trunk in the rock section. It was a great vantage point to watch Paul Bolton flash passed into the lead. Jonny gave chase and he won the race from David Knight and Paul Bolton while Taddy limped in clearly shaken.

The final heat was amazing. David Knight took the holeshot and he held the lead for 2 laps until Taddy overtook him with a neat move on the large log that divided the rock section. Jonny Walker undertook David on lap 4. David came back at Jonny and the 2 riders collided on the the trunk. Untangling themselves Walker and Knighter rejoined the race with Jonny aiming at the lead and David aiming at anything that moved. As consolation for crashing out in heat 2 Taddy won the final heat. Jonny was 2nd and won the Overall. David Knight was runner up and Taddy Blazusiak was 3rd. Eurotek's Paul Bolton was 4th and Jonathan Richardson was 5th. 

Jonny Walker: “It’s only two weeks since I started training for indoor enduro so to get a winning result is great. I got three great starts here, which made things easier. It didn’t take that long to get into the lead in the first two races. I managed to pull away and get two wins. The last race was more intense. At the end we came close with Taddy but he managed to pull out the victory. Overall it’s been a good night. We have five weeks to the opening round of the SuperEnduro series so there’s time to improve things. It’s going to be a long season and I’m looking forward to it.” 

Taddy Blazusiak: “It’s been really tough being forced to sit out of racing since June. But now I’m back and I’m ready to do give 100% as I always did. This event was like a test for us, especially after all this time away from racing. It started off with me wining the Hot Lap session, which I was really pleased about to be honest. Even after all this time off my speed is still there. I opted to start the indoor season with the 250F, which I believe is the best bike for me. We came to the UK with last year’s settings and had to make some changes during the evening. But overall all the small changes we made worked in our favour. At the end of the night I was feeling comfortable on my bike. I got together with Jonny in race two and I hit the ground. I had to start from dead last and with a twisted front end. But in race three I had a good battle with Jonny and I’m pleased I won it. We still have some things we need to work on but we’ll be ready when the SuperEnduro championship starts.”  

David Knight: I'm happy enough with my result as I haven't secured a ride for the Super Enduro World Championship, so I haven't done any Super Enduro practice. I rode a bike I've owned only a week and ridden twice. It is a pretty much standard spec KTM 250 2-stroke. To be pretty much the fastest rider all day and beat current World Champion, Taddy Blazusiak, is a great achievement especially as I went to enjoy myself with no mechanic and just the missus and kids. Luckily the only change needed all day was to put a 1 tooth bigger rear sprocket on.

To fight with Taddy and Jonny with their factory bikes, suspension and mechanics running around after them is not easy but I felt very comfortable all day. In races 1 & 2 I honestly knew I was the fastest rider, but getting a bad start and held up made it to difficult to get the lost time back. In race 3 I knew I had to make the holeshot. I did just that and pushed the first two laps but then lost my front brake. First Taddy got past then also Jonny. Unfortunately that's the way it goes sometimes, I was gutted as I felt I deserved a win in that race but second is a good start and at least I know I'm still well capable of winning a world title giving the right opportunity and a little luck! A little bit more fitness and I'm there as I'm still recovering from the Epstein Barr virus. I must say I really enjoyed riding the 2 smoker, the atmosphere was brilliant, the track was awesome and a massive well done to the whole Fast Eddy crew. It was a massive commitment by Paul to run this race and I hope it's paid off for him as it was one off the best I've ever done and I've done a lot in my time.

Thanks to everyone for the support on Sunday, it made me fight a little harder as it's tough to motivate yourself when you feel a bit down in the dumps and feel you deserve another shot at a World title. A big thanks to all my sponsors without whom I wouldn't be able to compete at all. Cheers guys, Knighter.

Photos - Results