The following is from Mark Burkhart Racing...

Mark Burkhart, the 2008 Moto X World Supermoto Champion, 2007 X-Games Supermoto Gold winner, and 2007 AMA Supermoto Champion has formed his own supermoto race team to compete in the X Games, the Proximus Superbiker event in Belgium and the AMA Supermoto Series. The team will be called Burkhart Racing.

He is teaming up with Mitch Hansen of HMC Racing and will be racing factory KTM bikes. Ulrich Toporsch will be crew chief for the team. Currently, all of them are busy preparing for the first round of the AMA Supermoto Series scheduled for March 22, 2009 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

Sponsorship interest for the Burkhart Racing team has been very strong. Longtime supporters of Burkhart like Monster Energy Drink, Arai, Sidi, Scott, Cycra and Dunlop have committed to supporting his new team. In addition, HMC Racing also brings a number of sponsor relationships to the new team. HMC Racing sponsors include: KTM, Vortex, Fuchs Silkolene Oil, DID Chain, Beringer Brakes, Akrapovic Exhaust, Millennium Technologies, EBC Brakes, Wiseco Pistons, Cometic Gaskets, Hot Cams, and Pivot Works.

"I am looking forward to working with Mitch this year and racing the factory KTM bikes. I raced the KTM's for the first time this past weekend in Florida and loved the way they handled. Mitch and Uli are a great team and they obviously know how to build bikes capable of winning championships. I am feeling strong and looking forward to racing again. The last few months have been very stressful and quite hectic. I was pleasantly surprised by all the support for Burkhart Racing from the motorcycle industry and appreciate all the sponsors coming through for me and the team in this tough economy. I also want to thank Larry Pegram and Ed Kuhlenkamp of Build-Momentum for advising me on putting together the team and working on the deals," commented Burkhart.