Enduro

Juha Salminen shook up the Grand National Cross Country circuit in 2005 and won an astonishing 9 of the 13 GNCC rounds, taking home his first American Off-Road Championship title.

Following in history’s footsteps, champions are always given the prestige of running the number one plate the following year to contest and defend their title.

After careful consideration, 10-time World Enduro Champion, Juha Salminen has decided to race the 2006 GNCC series with 111 instead of the number 1 plate. He explained, “For me, the number one plate is something that I earned last year because my team and I worked hard for it. I respect the history and the distinction that comes with it, but the team and I thought that since I am in America racing for such a short time that we would like for fans to associate me with the 111. In fact, we are not ignoring the number 1 at all, just be sure to look at the middle one, it’s larger than the other two numbers.

The second round of the AMA National Hare Scrambles was held in Hollister, CA and the conditions were dry, dusty and hard packed.

Ohio resident Robbie Jenks jumped off the line in the top group and battled with Nathan Woods and Ricky Dietrich throughout the entire three hour and fifteen minute race until the rain started to come down. The 12-mile loop mainly consisting of fire roads started getting more and more treacherous as lapped-traffic became thicker and Jenks got caught behind them.

A great effort was put forth by Robbie and he finished his day in third.

AMA National Hare Scrambles Results (Top 3)

KTM’s strong commitment to off-road riding and racing will again be expanded in 2006 as we proudly announce the KTM Off-Road Series Bonus Program.

In addition to KTM customer support offered trackside at many of the events, the KTM Off-Road Series Bonus is further support for our loyal KTM riders who compete in the following series: GNCC, WORCS, AMA National Enduro and AMA National Hare & Hound Series.

The Series Bonus will be paid to the registered owner who contests the entire series on a 2005 or newer KTM model.

GNCC and WORCS 2006 Series Class Championship
(Year End Class Standings)

KTM’s reigning Enduro 3 world champion David Knight proved once again that when the going gets tough he certainly knows how to get going. Mounted on his 300cc KTM David once again dominated the Hell’s Gate race earning himself 8’000 Euro after managing to make it to the top of Hell’s peak ahead of his rivals.

Despite the special test used in the morning’s qualifying enduro featuring several ice patches David managed to win each of the three special tests to qualify first for the main Hell’s Gate race. Finishing ahead of Britain’s Wayne Braybrook and Italian Maurizio Micheluz, Knighter simply did enough to ensure he would start in pole position for the four-lap main event. While David claimed the number one qualifying position, KTM’s Dakar rider David Casteu finished in 10th position, putting himself in a strong position for a good result in the Hell’s Gate race.

Factory KTM rider Jean-Claude Mousse narrowly missed out on victory at the 1st running of the Le Touquet Pas-de-Calais Enduropale staged on the beach at Le Touquet on Sunday February 5th where the former two-time Le Touquet Enduro winner ended the three-hour race just one minute and 15 seconds behind eventual race winner Tomotei Potisek.

Mounted aboard his KTM 525 Mousse was one of 1000 riders that took to the start of the new look event and after three hours of close racing action around the 15.5km long circuit the French rider stood on the second step of the podium. Despite his best efforts to win the event, Mousse proved once again to be one of the world’s very best beach racers aboard his factory KTM.

990 ADVENTURE
More displacement, any amount of performance and still massive torque coupled with minimal weight. The new motor management with electronic fuel injection (EFI) is convincing with its excellent rideablity while the regulated catalyser ensures minimal emissions. And the newly developed ABS has taken the fear out of braking hard. All in all the KTM 990 Adventure, with its ultra modern technology and exclusive design, delivers unlimited riding pleasure.

990 ADVENTURE S
The 990 Adventure S is impressive proof of just how sporty a street enduro can be. The chassis is even more extreme than the sister bike, the 990 Adventure, while the new engine has more displacement and electronic fuel injection. The “Dakar

Reigning FIM Enduro 3 World Champion and AMA Endurocross title winner KTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli rider David Knight got his ’06 season off to a winning start by dominating the second running of the WOR organized The KTM Tough One, staged at Nantmawr Quarry, Oswestry on January 21.

Starting at the rear of the 30 rider strong Premier class having had to run up a steep hill before sprinting 300 meters to get to his bike, Knighter needed just over 30 minutes to make his way to the front of the race, a position he held until the finish. Completing 17 laps David finished one full lap ahead of his nearest rival.

Reigning British Trials Champion originating from Folkestone, Kent, Graham Jarvis tried his skills at a new sport at the weekend. Jarvis who was competing on board the Sherco 4.5i Enduro bike took an outstanding 4th place in only his second Enduro event. The event aptly named 'The Tough One' sponsored by KTM really tested the ability of the 30 riders entered including that of Jarvis.

Up against the likes of current World Enduro Champion David Knight and former World Enduro Champion Paul Edmondson, plus no less than eight top ten British Enduro riders Jarvis certainly had his work cut out over the physical course set out by Steve Ireland and his crew at WOR.

From KTM Press

Australian Repsol KTM rider Andy Caldecott fatally crashed on the 9th stage of the Dakar (Nouakchott – Kiffa).

The accident happened directly after the day off. This information has totally shocked us, we’re at a loss for words.

The terrible accidents in the past 2 years caused us to start with mixed feelings and question our rally engagement. The presenters of the Dakar have tried to make the rally safer together with several manufacturers. A tempo limit has been adopted, a GPS system which enables each rider to be located and to allow him to communicate with the presenter. Riders can have more rests now due to shorter tank stops. A pretty sportive rally until yesterday’s day of rest eclipsed the pain of the past - today we were brutally pulled out of our dream to make this rally safe.

The Dark Side of The Moon

For the 7th stage the competitors left Tan Tan very early in the morning. Around 02:00 PM the first riders were at the bivouac of Atar. But the stage was not ended. At midnight about 50 pilots were still in the desert, most of them almost sure they could spent the night far from the bivouac. Some of them decided to stop and to sleep a short, cold and troubled night. Some others proceeded very slowly. Many of all sentenced to the withdrawal. For all the night, time by time, a headlight coming from the dark announced the arrival of a pilot. The organizers decided to let the last riders leave for the next stage, after a medical check-up. Should they reach the bivouac at Nouackchott? And if, should they have the time to enjoy this area devastated by a sandstorm?