KTM MOTOCROSS NEWS
27 March 2006 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

KTM Motocross Teams are ready for the Championship

The Red Bull KTM Motocross team approach the MX1, MX2 and MX3 FIM World Championships with the same determination and resolution for the 2006 season.

The factory’s effort extends to 9 works riders, 3 within MX1, 4 within MX2 and 2 within MX3 where the Austrian manufacturer has yet to be beaten. The MX1/MX2 calendar will visit 15 Grand Prix in a 6 month period and travel to 14 different countries.

MX1 - KTM Racing Team

5 time World MX Champion Georges Jobe will head-up a new-look MX1 crew for 2006. Georges is making a return to team management (he was previously team manager in 1996 to the KTM 250cc MX team including Kurt Nicoll) and will keep a watchful eye over two major acquisitions in the shape of former World Champions Mickael Pichon and Sebastien Tortelli. Young Spaniard Jonathan Barragan will maintain KTM’s philosophy of developing promising talent in the premier class and joins the factory for the first time this year.

‘Our most important project of 2006 is definitely our MX1 team and this obviously can be seen by the investment we have made,’ says Jobe confidently. ‘There is more pressure now than we’ve perhaps had before in MX1,’ he also concedes. ‘When you take kids and are not expected to win it is a completely different thing from signing two former World Champions with minimum sights on the title. There is pressure and expectation compared to previous years.’

The 450SXF gets ready for its third full season in the World Championship. The 2006 spec features minor modifications in line with the requests of Pichon and Tortelli, and hope remains in the ‘orange’ camp that the overall win tally of 4 victories to-date can swiftly be increased. Barragan’s motorcycle meanwhile will be of interest to technical enthusiasts: ‘Barragan will have a completely new bike with a view to the 2007 production model which is different from top to bottom,’ remarked Jobe.

With four wins and seven moto victories since the inception of the MX1 class in 2004 KTM is chasing an overdue period of success, the seeds of which were sown by Ben Townley in 2005. The New Zealander gave the team their first Grand Prix triumph at Bellpuig for the Grand Prix of Spain.

MX2 - KTM Champ

The Red Bull Champ KTM MX2 team will field four riders from four different countries this season in their biggest line-up since 2003. KTM have a very strong pedigree in the 125/MX2 class having won four Championships in the last six years with both the 125cc SX and 250 SX-F. The firm clinched the riders and manufacturers crown in 2004 and Tyla Rattray won the last three Grand Prix of the 2005 season (the team collected 6 wins from 17, and 10 motos from 34 in 2005 despite injuries to two of their key riders).

“There is more material and a lot more work for the mechanics to get all the bikes ready and prepared, but on another side it is good to have many riders together,” said team manager Kees van der Ven. “It increases the team’s chances of doing well and there is some good competition among them.”

“I have a good feeling about 2006 and I think we might see a similar situation as 2004 where Tyla and Ben were fighting a lot and it was a positive time for the team,” said Kees van der Ven referring to the season where Champ claimed the top two positions in the series. “The riders help each other; riding and practising together brings them up to a higher level.

MX3 - KTM JM Racing

Reigning Champions, double winners and currently unbeaten in the short history of the MX3 series Jacky Martens will again lead his potent rider line-up of Yves Demaria (2004 Champ) and Sven Breugelmans (defending number one this year) but also undertake responsibilities within the European Championship as KTM help to develop the stars of the next generation.

For Belgian Martens working with the victorious duo of Demaria and Breugelmans has its advantages. “Yves brings all that Grand Prix experience but also a special feeling when on the bike in terms of set-up,” he said. “He had a great first season and won the World Championship and has extra motivation now after some injury problems last year. It was great to see Sven develop into a World Champion in 2005. He had been a factory rider before and when we picked him up in 2004 I thought he had the potential to do it within two years. In the first season he was fourth and learnt a lot about training and the help we could give him. The development continued in 2005 and we all saw the result.”

The fourteen round MX3/European calendar will start on April 2nd (France) and run until September 3rd (Switzerland).

Photo courtesy of S. Leroux

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