four positions to 26th overall ; Day 3 saw a well-rested and fresh Nick take a 14th position , slowly fighting his way back up the leaderboard . A 21st finish on the final day of racing moved him another few positions to complete his first Gold class in 22nd .
“ It was super gnarly ,” said Fahringer . “ There were some absolutely stupid things we had to do with dirt bikes that I never want to do again . Probably not my best idea to do this , but it feels really good to finish . I really want to thank everybody for the encouragement and good words . It ’ s been a bit of a rough trip ; we had a rough patch earlier in the race . A lot of people shot some support my way and it really made a big difference , it was a big help . So thanks to everybody .”
Also making his 2022 HEWC debut at this event was GasGas Factory Racing ’ s Taddy Blazusiak . Blazusiak had been absent from any of the previous events due to a wrist injury . After making an outstanding push to second place in the prologue , whose endurocross-style course fit his skillset perfectly , the multiple seven-hour days on the bike proved a bit too much and he decided to withdraw on Day 3 rather than risk any further injury to his wrist .
“ It was frustrating to retire on the penultimate day ,” said Blazusiak . “ Sometimes you have to make the right call even if you don ’ t want to .
VOL . 7 ISSUE 9 - SEPTEMBER 2022 // PAGE 77