Update: Taddy Blazusiak leaves GASGAS – here’s what we know
GASGAS issue “best wishes” and thanks to Taddy Blazusiak for his achievements and wish him “good luck” in the future as the enduro legend moves onto pastures new. Is a high-profile switch on the cards?
It will have come as a bit of surprise to many to learn Taddy Blazusiak has parted ways with GASGAS. Following a long and incredibly distinguished career at KTM, the Polish legend jumped across the factory Farioli team tent to GASGAS in 2020 and has played a huge role in putting the then newly acquired brand for KTM Group on the map.
Along with Andrea Verona, Taddy has spearheaded factory enduro efforts in both hard enduro. Although injury has affected results in recent years, the drive and commitment was still very much there in SuperEnduro and EnduroCross, certainly when Enduro21 met up with Taddy in September this year.
Check our interview here: Taddy Blazusiak Interview – “Do I still want to be the first guy at the first turn? Absolutley, 100%”
“Everyone at GASGAS wishes Taddy all the best for his future” says today’s press release but with the 2024 SuperEnduro season beginning this coming weekend in France, what is Taddy up to?
Here’s what we know:
Taddy has left GASGAS and signed with Stark Future to ride the Varg electric off-road motorcycle in the 2024 SuperEnduro World Championship and as a development rider, a pretty high profile move by any measure.
Enduro21 believes Taddy was contracted to remain riding GASGAS until the end of 2023 but was released early, freeing him up to make a high-profile debut on a Varg this weekend in Lievin, France and round one of the SuperEnduro season.
Official entries for this weekend’s round one in Lievin, France show Taddy riding a Stark and Stark Future Racing as his race team. That should be the internet blown for the week as we digest the news but there are problems around racing an electric motorcycle, specifically indoors, which are holding up any debut.
It seems everyone involved wants to see this, from Taddy and Stark, the SuperEnduro World Championship promoters, the French race organisers (even though it is sold out) and as a matter of fact the FIM too.
The problem is electric motorcycles have their own set of FIM regulations, substantially drawn up for the E-Xplorer World Cup but also with the view to racing beginning in other world championship competition. They are more complex than you might imagine with regulations around battery charging in the pits, different coloured lights on a bike to show if it is live (to a marshall in the event of a crash for example), the handling of the bikes (approved gloves are needed etc) and of course how and what to do in the event of a fire.
These regs exist for petrol powered motorcycles too but they seem to us they’re amped up for electric motorcycles.
Enduro21 understands there are additional stumbling blocks for racing indoors and that regulations will also be affected differently depending on the country it is staged in and each event arena’s own regulations and insurance.
So despite the fact we’re on the verge of the most exciting start to a SuperEnduro season for a good few years with a strong line-up of riders, Mani Lettenbichler re-joining the party and now this big news from Stark and Taddy, it might not be quite the fanfare we first thought.
Stark say they will be there and continue to work to make it happen, equally the SuperEnduro promoters surely want to make it happen but we believe it will depend on these regulations being met.
Enduro21 will be there and will bring you more when we get it. Not least a look at the bikes.
If you’ve got some spare time on your hands, check out the regs for electric motorcycles here:
FIM – CTI Guidelines for Electric Motorcycles
Stay tuned.
Photo Credit: Future7Media
