Motorcycles and news

Supermoto: AMA Supermoto Shawano, WI June 14, 2006

KTM put on a spectacular display on Saturday at USA International Raceway in Shawano, WI, the site of the third round of the 2006 AMA Supermoto Championship. Team Red Bull KTM HMC superstars Bernd Hiemer, Jurgen Kunzel, and Ben Carlson combined on the day to claim Superpole and victories in the AMA Supermoto and AMA Supermoto Unlimited classes.

Visiting World Supermoto ace Hiemer stole the show. The German fought for the lead in the opening AMA Supermoto final before ultimately taking second. He came back even stronger in the next race, taking the holeshot and leading every lap en route to his first career AMA Supermoto victory.

Kunzel started both finals from his pick of grid positions after winning Superpole with a blazing 1:18.780 flying lap aboard his KTM 450 SMR. He led the first five laps of the opening moto before crashing in the dirt section. The defending AMA Supermoto champion then showed his trademark grit and determination, charging back up from tenth to finish seventh. The German picked up fourth in the second leg, just missing out on a podium result on the final lap.

Title contender Kurt Nicoll put in another consistent performance for Team Red Bull KTM HMC, scoring sixth and seven-place finishes to remain a close third in the early-season championship race with 100 points.

Team Red Bull KTM HMC owner Mitch Hansen said, “The races in the AMA Supermoto class were very exciting. Jurgen did a tremendous job to get pole and he and Hiemer were having a great battle for first before Jurgen fell in the dirt and Hiemer got tangled up with him. Bernd still took second though and went even better in the next race; he got the holeshot and kept the lead the entire race.”

Hansen continued, commenting on the experience of having the current World Supermoto S1 championship leader run in the States as a wild card this weekend. “It was great to have Bernd and his mechanic over and running with the team. He’s incredible -he’s one of the new breed of Supermoto stars who really grew up in the sport. He started in Supermoto; he didn’t come over from motocross or roadracing or anything like that.”

AMA Supermoto Unlimited championship leader Ben Carlson rebounded from his disappointing crash out of the lead last weekend at Road America by dominating the Unlimited race at USA International Raceway aboard his KTM 560 SMR. The Wisconsin-native made the most of what was his second chance this year to impress in front of his home fans. Carlson’s win gives him 70 points on the year, opening up his advantage to 20 points.

All Access Racing’s Micky Dymond, the reigning Unlimited champion, battled his way up from fourth to second to give KTM a 1-2 in the class.

Hansen said, “In Unlimited everything obviously was fantastic. Benny ran away with it. He opened up a gap and then just kept an eye on second. He was so mad at himself for crashing when he clearly had it in his back pocket last weekend. This was a great way for him to bounce back.”

Along with the trophy-winning rides, KTM riders were well represented throughout the top ten. KTM-mounted riders took half of the top-ten positions in both AMA Supermoto finals and claimed a full six positions in the top ten in the Unlimited contest.

Dymond scored two eighths in the AMA Supermoto class to go along with his Unlimited runner-up while privateer Josh Chisum finished tenth twice in the premier category.

Team Red Bull KTM HMC’s young lion, John Lewis, took fourth in the Unlimited race despite racing with a broken hand. He was followed by BP Racing KTM’s Leonardo Bagnis (fifth), Joker Machine QTM KTM’s Justin Ross (sixth), and Red Baron Racing’s Steve Hatch (tenth).

Bagnis put his KTM 250 SX-F on the podium in the AMA Supermoto Lites class, finishing in third. He was joined in the top ten by Hart & Huntington Tattoo KTM’s Cole Walsdorf (seventh) and Hatch (eighth).

The AMA Supermoto Championship will now travel to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, UT for the fourth round of the 2006 season to be contested on June 17.

Hansen is eager for a repeat of this weekend’s success. “Running three weeks in a row has been tough, but we’re looking forward to next weekend. We tested at Utah earlier this year and the track is excellent. We’re expecting another big weekend for KTM.”

AMA Supermoto Series, Shawano, WI: Round 3

Supermoto Race 1

1. Mark Burkhart
2. Bernd Hiemer KTM
3. Troy Herfoss
4. Chris Fillmore
5. Jeff Ward
6. Kurt Nicoll KTM
7. Jurgen Kunzel KTM
8. Micky Dymond KTM
9. David Baffeleuf
10. Josh Chisum KTM

Supermoto Race 2

1. Bernd Hiemer KTM
2. Jeff Ward
3. Chris Fillmore
4. Jurgen Kunzel KTM
5. Troy Herfoss
6. Doug Henry
7. Kurt Nicoll KTM
8. Micky Dymond KTM
9. David Baffeleuf
10. Josh Chisum KTM

Supermoto Lites

1. Cassidy Anderson
2. Alexandre Thiebault
3. Leonardo Bagnis KTM
4. Brandon Currie
5. Casey Yarrow
6. Danny Casey
7. Cole Walsdorf KTM
8. Steve Hatch KTM
9. Cameron Welsh
10. Matt Abbott

Supermoto Unlimited

1. Ben Carlson KTM
2. Micky Dymond KTM
3. David Baffeleuf
4. John Lewis KTM
5. Leonardo Bagnis KTM
6. Justin Ross KTM
7. Josh Chisum
8. Robert Loire
9. Gary Trachy
10. Steve Hatch KTM
…