Taddy Blazusiak and Stark made the bold step to go racing in a Spanish Hard Enduro race, lining up alongside Mario Roman and championship regulars to test the Varg in real enduro conditions. The aim was “to learn and to improve”, Taddy explains to Enduro21…

There’s no better and braver way of answering questions about the Stark Varg’s ability to handle enduro than to go racing. That’s exactly what Taddy Blazusiak did with his Varg at round two of the 2024 Spanish Hard Enduro Championship in Cantoria.

Though admittedly very much in the early stages of development for outdoor enduro, Taddy took third in the city prologue after a mistake kept him out of the final won by Mario Roman. The main race day was a different challenge and a step into unknown territory for Blazusiak and his team.

The result? Seventh overall after running inside the top five but after taking a pitstop to change the battery (something the Varg is no designed to do). Over three hours racing brought a lot information in racing conditions for Stark in terms of power used, battery life and the chassis and suspension set-up.

“We have made a long run. We are doing a new thing that has never been done before” – Taddy explains…

Taddy, how was your debut with the Stark Varg in the Hard Enduro?

Taddy Blazusiak: “Well, the truth is that we have done what we planned to do. We have finished the race.

“We have learned a lot about the battery, how to manage it and how to go forward next time. We have understood many things and have a lot of new information. Now we know that we can even run further because we have margin. We have a lot of information and that is why we are there, to learn and to improve. I think that next time we will be more advanced and further ahead.”

With over three hours of racing, how many battery changes did you do?

“One. We made the change after the second lap and we did five laps. We did it for safety.

“At first we thought it would be four laps. And then, when we saw that there were still three laps to go, I had to slow down a little because we didn’t know how we would be on the last lap but we arrived with a margin, so we are happy.”

How has the Varg adapted to Hard Enduro?

“We are much more advanced in the SuperEnduro, as we showed in the prologue on Saturday night, where we finished third after a small mistake that prevented us from entering the final. But there is speed and the bike is going well.

“In Hard Enduro we are not yet super-tuned in the suspension section and all that. There is a little more work here, but the bike has surprised me and the truth is that we have done a good job.

“It was a pretty difficult race with super-steep but super-good sections, some real climbs, real hard enduro, and they made a great track.

“We haven’t pushed 100% in this race. It’s a process, we were there to learn and to understand how everything is working. When we stopped to change the battery, we were in fourth place, much better than we expected. So good, we are happy.”

Did it take you much longer to change the battery?

“Yes, we wasted a lot of time there. I don’t know exactly how much, I would have to ask my mechanic, Lucas [Amat], but surely more than five minutes, because the bike is not made to change the battery quickly, we are entering new territory.”

We understand that the result was the least important, the most important thing was to collect data in real hard enduro conditions.

“Totally, totally. Also when we already knew after the second lap change that we still had three more left, I slowed down the pace to make sure we had enough battery. It is something totally new for us, but we arrived with margin. Perhaps it would not have been necessary to relax so much either. It is part of the learning process and that is why we are here.”

What is the testing schedule you have planned?

“I think we are going to do more tests in Spain. Our goal is clearly SuperEnduro, because this bike can be super-competitive there and that is where we have developed it. But we have encountered obstacles from the FIM, so we are looking for other things that will help us in the future with this bike.

“The information and insight we have gained this weekend will allow us to do more with this bike in the future and also have it more prepared. And it is also useful for us, to get to know it, because it is such a new project... Well, it is an electric motorcycle that with two batteries has done almost four hours of racing. We have made a long run. We are doing a new thing that has never been done before.”

What is the next race on the calendar?

“This weekend we are going to run the Xtreme Race on Saturday in Bassella, which is more of our style, more of a sprint, so we will be there. And then, we have more things we want to try. And if we arrive on time, then to Oviedo (third round of the 2024 Spanish Hard Enduro Championship).

We go race by race, work and develop things for a new enduro bike next year. For the future, all this information is also for this project.”

Photo Credit: ArtRacing | RFME