KTM North America officially announced its 2005 Off-Road Team roster. Headlining the squad will be six-time AMA National Enduro Champion Mike Lafferty who will again go after is seventh title, as well as the Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Championship.
Joining Lafferty in the GNCCs will be 10-time World Enduro Champion Juha Salminen from Finland. Salminen will also compete the entire World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS), as will Kurt Caselli, who will also compete in the GNCC Series and the D-37 Big-6 Series in California. David Lykke, who placed second in the 2004 National Enduro Championship, will again contest the AMA National Enduro Series.
U.S. Red Bull KTM Dakar Team members Andy Grider, Chris Blais and Kellon Walch will also be competing in the AMA National Hare & Hound events and in the SCORE racing series. They also have plans to compete in the 2006 Dakar Rally. Bobby Bonds, Robbie Jenks and Shane Watts will be supported by KTM. Bonds will be competing in the WORCS and Big 6 GPs, while Jenks will follow the GNCC and AMA National Hare Scrambles Series. Watts will contest selected GNCCs, hare scrambles, WORCS and the OMA series.
KTM is also supporting the Tim Tabor Fun Mart Team, which will include support riders Homero Diaz, Nathan Kanney and D.R. Attwood. These three riders will be competing in the GNCCs, OMA series and selected National Hare Scrambles.
Ron Heben, Motorsports Marketing Manager said, “We have a very talented and dedicated group of off-road riders for 2005. We also have a great band of team members and mechanics to take care of our riders; Alan Randt, Mike Chavez, Rich Caselli, Anti Kallonen, Mark Adams and Ricky Mosley will be our technicians working alongside the riders, as will our Off-Road Racing and Promotions Coordinator, Jack Penton. Complimenting our program is a host of reputable companies with quality proven products that will be used by our team riders. Team Off-Road sponsors are Michelin, Motorex, FMF, TAG Metals, Moto-Tassinari, WP Suspension, Aussie Grills/Meco, Braking, RK Chains, Excel Rims, Motion Pro, Twin Air Filters, KTM Hard Equipment, Nissan, NGK Spark Plugs, IMS, SDG, O’gio, VP Fuels, and Enduro Engineering. With the high skill level our riders have and the capabilities of our race technicians, we look forward to a winning season.”
