German road racer Stefan Nebel will join HMC Racing for selected rounds of the AMA Superbike Championship, KTM announced today.
Nebel will test with the team at the Homestead test next week and will make his AMA debut at the Infineon Raceway round of the series the first weekend in May. Nebel will join Chris Fillmore on the team’s KTM 1190 RC8 R for seven of the 11 rounds, ending with the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca round in July.
Nebel, a two-time IDM Superbike Champion and former IDM Superstock Champion, has been with KTM since the beginning of the KTM 1190 RC8 Superbike project. Nebel was the first test rider for KTM during the development stages of the motorcycle and also raced as a member of the German KTM Superbike racing team in 2009 during the bikes inaugural year on the IDM circuit.
Nebel finished second in the IDM Superbike Series in 2009 and fourth in 2010.
“It has always been a dream of mine to race in the U.S.,” remarked Nebel. “I am looking forward to working with the KTM/HMC Racing Team to help in the development of the RC8 R Race Spec bike. I am very eager to begin racing and am grateful to KTM for the opportunity.”
“We are excited to have Nebel join our team,” said KTM/HMC team manager Mitch Hansen. “He brings a wealth of experience not only in racing, but in regards to his research and development efforts with the RC8. We feel with his presence that it really shows the global effort KTM is putting behind this team and we are all eager for the season to kick off.”
