KTM Press Newsletter

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ENDURO
The boss speaking: Fabio Farioli - Team Manager Enduro (07.03.2006)
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The KTM factory enduro squad has six riders from five different European countries for 2006. Do you think the team will support riders from outside Europe in the future?

Fabio Farioli: KTM has a real international enduro team for 2006, which is great because KTM sells bikes all over the world. At the moment European riders are the best enduro riders in the world. This is the reason why KTM’s factory enduro team is made up of riders from the Isle of Man, Finland, Italy, Spain and France. When riders from outside of Europe are able to win World Enduro Championship titles they will be welcomed into our family.

Can Ivan Cervantes, Samuli Aro and David Knight repeat their achievements of last season?

Fabio Farioli: It is certainly going to be hard to repeat the results of last year because 2005 was such an amazing season for all three riders. Each rider will face stiff competition but repeating their achievements from last year is what everyone in the team is working towards. We have the best riders, the best bikes, best mechanics and best organization so I am confident that they can win again.

This year the WEC series will start with a winter race in Sweden before travelling to events in Canada and the States. Is the world of enduro growing?

Fabio Farioli: Different types of races as well as events outside of Europe are important if the World Enduro Championship is to grow into a truly international championship. The conditions at many of the races this year will be new to lots of riders but I am sure that the winners will be the same.

KTM will field one official team with six riders into the World Enduro Championship in 2006. What is it that motivates you as team manager this season?

Fabio Farioli: Last year KTM won three individual riders titles, three manufacturers titles and ended up first in the final team standings as well. The incentive for 2006 is not so much to ensure that the team keeps growing but to make sure it stays where it is – at the top of the World Enduro Championship. That is what motivates me.

This season all of KTM’s official riders will race on four-stroke machinery. Do you think that two-stroke machinery is no longer competitive in the WEC?

Fabio Farioli: KTM has the best two-stroke bikes with their 125, 250 and 300. I know that they are still very competitive machines but riders now want four-stroke power when they are racing in the WEC. Anyway, I’m sure in the future we will go back to two strokes, not for all riders but most of them.

Have the riding styles and training techniques of the WEC’s best riders changed in recent years?

Fabio Farioli: Just like in so many sports the world’s best enduro riders are moving towards more specific preparation. Their performance on extreme special tests is very important in today’s world championship so riders have to work hard on their high and low speed riding, as well as having good endurance and strength. All these things are necessary to be on the top.

Sala, Farioli, Rinaldi, Aro, Cervantes, Knight… what do you think that all these champions have in common?

Fabio Farioli: Determination, passion, devotion, world titles andof course KTM!

Factory MX2 rider Tyla Rattray shook off the effects of a several day hospitalisation due to a leg infection to register a clean sweep at Zolder, Belgium, for the opening round of the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championships this afternoon.

The South African, making his GP debut on the 250F, was fastest in every practice session on Saturday, won his qualification heat, posted the best time in morning warm-up and then produced faultless performances in the two 35 minute and 2 lap motos. It was his fourth career success.

His team-mate Carl Nunn claimed 10th and 9th on his first World Championship outing for the Champ team. The second moto promised more for the Briton until he stalled the bike while challenging for fourth place.

In front of 20,000 fans (over the weekend) and under blue skies with hot sunshine Ben Townley came close to sealing his first MX1 podium. The
reigning MX2 number one slipped off briefly while trying to pass Mickael Pichon for second place in the first moto and then another minor fall in the second race meant that he couldn’t close down Stefan Everts for fourth spot. Fourth overall was still a satisfactory MX1 baptism for the New Zealander. Steve Ramon had a GP to forget as a crash in the first race and an engine stall in the second left the 2004 Zolder moto winner struggling to enter the leaderboard.

Stefan Everts and Joel Smets were moto winners with the defending World Champion earning the overall victory.

The second round of the World Championships takes place in two weeks time at Bellpuig for the Grand Prix of Spain.

Tyla Rattray:
“I put two good races together today. Over the whole weekend I was feeling good on the bike and confident with the track. I had two good starts and
could pull away pretty quickly. I had been in a hospital bed for four days this week unable to do anything because of an infection. The motos were hard towards the end but of course I’m happy with the win.”

Ben Townley:
“Everyone says I should be happy but I feel that I should have been on the podium. I crashed twice today. The second one was a stupid mistake; the
front wheel just went away. For the first it was just a racing incident with Pichon, maybe I should have waited and taken him in a better place. I have to work on my starts, they are letting me down and making my races harder. Overall it was a good weekend. We still need to work on a better set-up and we will progress from here.”

Steve Ramon:
“I was maybe pushing a bit too hard in the first race. I made a mistake and lost time to Smets but then Coppins rode alongside in a rut on the inside of a corner. He was going flat-out towards the outside of the track and touched me with his elbow. I lost control and made a big crash, going into the public. In the second race the track was so bumpy I could not find a good rhythm and then I stalled the bike.”

Carl Nunn:
“The second race was good. It would have been better if I hadn’t stalled the bike and lost thirty seconds. I think I would’ve preferred to fly over the
bars rather than stall! I thought I was going for third at the time but I still waited to pass Cairoli seeing as everyone was tipping him for the Championship this year. The first race was hard but they usually are and I expected that, everyone gets tired or tense. After the first race you normally learn what you have to do for the next races in terms of riding and training. I wanted a top ten result and got one in both motos and the
overall so I’m satisfied.”

Photos from today’s action can be found on www.ktmimages.com

Results:

MX1 Moto1:

1 Everts, Stefan BEL Yamaha
2 Pichon, Mickael FRA Honda
3 Townley, Ben NZL KTM
4 de Dijcker, Ken BEL Honda
5 Smets, Joel BEL Suzuki
6 Coppins, Joshua NZL Honda
7 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
8 Cooper, Paul GBR Honda
9 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
10 Nemeth, Kornel HUN Suzuki

MX1 Moto2:

1 Smets, Joel
2 Pichon, Mickael
3 Everts, Stefan
4 Barragan, Jonathan
5 Townley, Ben
6 Strijbos, Kevin
7 Noble, James
8 Jorgensen, Brian
9 de Dijcker, Ken
10 Cooper, Paul
12 Ramon, Steve

MX1 Overall Result:

1 Everts, Stefan 45
2 Pichon, Mickael 44
3 Smets, Joel 41
4 Townley, Ben 36
5 de Dijcker, Ken 30
6 Strijbos, Kevin 29
7 Coppins, Joshua 25
8 Cooper, Paul 24
9 Noble, James 21
10 Barragan, Jonathan 20
15 Ramon, Steve 13

MX2 Moto1:

1 Rattray, Tyla RSA KTM
2 Melotte, Cedric BEL Yamaha
3 McFarlane, Andrew AUS Yamaha
4 Sword, Stephen GBR Kawasaki
5 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
6 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
7 Chiodi, Alessio ITA Yamaha
8 Caps, Patrick BEL Honda
9 Eggens, Erik NED Honda
10 Nunn, Carl GBR KTM

MX2 Moto2:

1 Rattray, Tyla
2 Melotte, Cedric
3 Pourcel, Sebastien
4 McFarlane, Andrew
5 Cairoli, Antonio
6 Eggens, Erik
7 Chiodi, Alessio
8 Nunn, Carl
9 Sword, Stephen
10 Maschio, Mickael

MX2 Overall Result:

1 Rattray, Tyla 50
2 Melotte, Cedric 44
3 Pourcel, Sebastien 35
4 McFarlane, Andrew 35
5 Cairoli, Antonio 34
6 Eggens, Erik 26
7 Chiodi, Alessio 25
8 Nunn, Carl 23
9 Sword, Stephen 21
10 Maschio, Mickael 20

he KTM team enjoyed a decent first qualification of the season for the opening round of the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championships at a sunny Zolder in Belgium this afternoon.

Tyla Rattray claimed pole position in the MX2 class for the Grand Prix of Flanders by winning the first qualification heat by almost fourteen seconds from Andrew McFarlane. Carl Nunn placed eighth in the same 20 minute and 2 lap sprint.

Steve Ramon posted a lap-time to obtain second spot in the MX1 category and was closely followed by Ben Townley in third, virtually two tenths of a second from the Belgian.

Defending MX3 Champion Yves Demaria was on pole position for the MX3 season opener at Castelnau de Levis with Julien Bill in third place. Sven
Breugelmans was fourth in the other qualifying group.

Results:

MX1 Timed Practice:

1 Pichon, Mickael, FRA Honda 1:42.097
2 Ramon, Steve, BEL KTM 1:42.292
3 Townley, Ben, NZL KTM 1:42.454
4 de Dijcker, Ken, BEL Honda 1:42.523
5 Smets, Joel, BEL Suzuki 1:42.817
6 van Daele, Marvin, BEL Honda 1:43.076
7 Pyrhonen, Antti, FIN TM 1:43.307
8 Cooper, Paul, GBR Honda 1:43.528
9 Everts, Stefan, BEL Yamaha 1:44.088
10 Leok, Tanel, EST Kawasaki 1:44.148

MX2 Qualifying Heat 1:

1 Rattray, Tyla RSA, KTM 24:45.754
2 McFarlane, Andrew, AUS Yamaha 24:59.187
3 Melotte, Cedric, BEL Yamaha 24:59.699
4 Sword, Stephen, GBR Kawasaki 25:12.082
5 Brown, Mike, USA Honda 25:24.763
6 Church, Tom, GBR Kawasaki 25:26.683
7 Leok, Aigar, EST KTM 25:27.514
8 Nunn, Carl, GBR KTM 25:31.341
9 Eggens, Erik NED Honda 25:37.800
10 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Yamaha 25:48.483

MX3

Group A:
1. Yves Demaria FRA KTM 2:13.197
3. Julien Bill SUI KTM 2.14.621

Group B:
4. Sven Breugelmans BEL KTM 2:14.257

Last year’s Enduro Teams KTM Farioli and KTM Racing are now united into one. The new multinational KTM Factory Enduro Team consists of the experienced aces Petteri Silvan, Samuli Aro and Ivan Cervantes, as well as Alessandro Botturi and David Knight and the newcomersAlessandro Belometti and Marko Tarkkala. World champion JuhaSalminen left the team, he moved to the US and races successfully in the Cross Country Championship (GNCC) series.

Team managers will be Fabio Farioli and Kari Tiainen, two hard-boiled Enduro and rally pros, who have won about a dozen WorldChamptionship titles.The targets for this season are set already: Go for titles at theChampionship!

The Bosses speaking: Fabio Farioli and Kari Tiainen

It was a surprise to many that Ivan Cervantes went from E3 to E1, what was the reasoning and how is he getting on?

Fabio Farioli: KTM has a new winning bike, Ivan likes it very much and his riding style is perfect for a small 4-stroke 250 EXC-F. This year there will be the best conditions to lead the Championship. But don’t forget Alessandro Belometti with the 125 EXC …

What is the effect of Juha Salminen’s move to the USA on the KTM Enduro Racing Team?

Kari Tiainen: After 7 years working together it’s a bit strange to prepair for the season without Juha, but the team is fully motivated as ever. With
Marko Tarkkala we got a young talented rider who for sure wants to prove that he deserves his place in the number one team.

David Knight was the top privateer rider in 2004 with a great 2nd place in E3, do you expect that he will have advantages on the full factory team in
2005?

Fabio Farioli: Knight is the man, he will get all the advantages of a fully supported factory rider and he has good relations with all the team members. The strongest man for the best results!

How do you think that the 250 EXC-F will work compared to the 125 EXC 2-strokes that your riders raced in E2 last season?

Kari Tiainen: I‘m very confident about the E1 class, a new great bike pushes the riders motivation to a higher level.

GNCC-style events are becoming more and more popular, are the KTM Enduro factory riders also contesting these types of events?

Fabio Farioli: All our riders are involved in these competitions, this year they are already leading the Italian (Belometti and Botturi), Spanish
(Cervantes) and British (Knight) GNCC Championships. These events are also attractive for amateur riders like me …

How is Samuli Aro adapting to riding the smaller capacity bike after winning the world title in E3?

Kari Tiainen: Samuli simply is a great talent and it‘s the same with the bike he rides. Our 450 EXC is very competitive like we saw last season and
it‚Äòs so close to his old 525 … I don‚Äòt see any trouble with Samuli‚Äôs change to the 450 EXC.

Result
1 Doug Henry Torrington, CT Pro 118 HON 7 02:51:41
2 Juha Salminen Finland, Pro 111 KTM 7 02:51:50
3 Shane Watts Australia, Pro 124 KTM 7 02:54:46
4 Kurt Caselli Palmdale, CA Pro 115 KTM 7 02:55:18
5 Michael Lafferty Estell Manor, NJ Pro 020 KTM 7 02:57:19
6 Robbie Jenks New Straitsville, OH Pro 010 KTM 7 03:00:37
7 Glenn Kearney Australia, Pro 114 SUZ 7 03:01:14
8 Barry Hawk, Jr Smithfield, PA Pro 003 YAM 7 03:02:14
9 Chuck Woodford St Clairsville, OH Pro 011 KAW 7 03:03:56
10 Cole Calkins East Sparta, OH Pro 009 KAW 7 03:04:48
11 Steve Hatch Scottsdale, AZ Pro 004 KAW 7 03:06:08
12 Charles Mullins Trenton, OH 250 A 015 YAM 7 03:06:14
13 Brian Garrahan Boulder Creek, CA Pro 012 SUZ 7 03:07:00
14 Justin Williamson Sanford, FL Pro 021 YAM 7 03:08:23
15 Brenden Ritzman Port Orchard, WA 250 A 892 KAW 7 03:08:54
16 Stephen Edmondson North Augusta, SC Pro 018 KTM 7 03:08:54
17 Scott Summers Petersburg, KY Pro 006 HON 7 03:10:12
18 Dustin Gibson Cmbrlnd Frnce, TN 4 Stroke A (301cc+) 911 KTM 7 03:10:23
19 Carl Bjerkert Eksjo Sweden, Pro 415 KTM 7 03:12:21
20 Randy Hawkins Travelers Rest, SC Pro 013 YAM 7 03:12:47

Overall standing after 2 rounds
1 KTM 111 Juha Salminen 55
2 SUZ 114 Glenn Kearney 39
3 KTM 020 Michael Lafferty 37
4 KTM 010 Robbie Jenks 30
5 KAW 011 Chuck Woodford 30
6 HON 118 Doug Henry 30
7 KAW 004 Steve Hatch 26
8 KAW 009 Cole Calkins 25
9 YAM 015 Charles Mullins 21
10 KTM 124 Shane Watts 21
11 KTM 018 Stephen Edmondson 18
12 KTM 115 Kurt Caselli 18
13 SUZ 012 Brian Garrahan 17
14 YAM 003 Barry Hawk, Jr 13
15 HON 006 Scott Summers 12
16 YAM 002 Jason Raines 11
17 KTM 911 Dustin Gibson 10
18 YAM 029 Aaron Wegner 10
19 YAM 021 Justin Williamson 7
20 YAM 190 Kevin Bailey 6
20 KAW 892 Brenden Ritzman 6