Mike Lafferty Returns To KTM For Final Year Of Racing
Cycle News Staff | October 18, 2013
Mike Lafferty will return to KTM for his final racing season in 2014. Photography by Shan Moore.
Eight-time AMA National Enduro Champion Mike Lafferty will be making his final ride on a Husaberg this weekend at the Cross Timbers National Enduro in Oklahoma, announcing today that 2014 will be his final year of racing, and he will return to KTM.
“I’m really excited about getting back on a KTM,” said Lafferty. “I feel like I’m really lucky to have the opportunity to go back to KTM, there are a lot of off-road guys out of work or looking for rides right now, so I feel privileged. But it just made sense in my last year of racing to go back to KTM, which is kind of where I started.”
Lafferty started his pro career on a KTM and switched to Husaberg three years ago.
“It’s hard to believe it’s going to be 20 years that I’ve been racing. It’s been a lot of years and some ups and downs, but I couldn’t be happier. It’s a good time and it’s a good ending to all of this.”
Lafferty will sport the number 20 on his race bike in 2014 to commemorate his 20th season as a pro.
Throughout the past two decades, Lafferty has racked up 70 AMA National Enduro wins and is tied with Dick Burleson for the record of most National Enduro Championships, with both riders holding eight titles.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed racing for Husaberg the past few years, but I always knew, I wanted my 20th and final year of racing to be on KTM,” Lafferty said.
Factory FMF/KTM Team Manager, Antti Kallonen, said, “I’m looking forward to Mike’s return to KTM as a member of our factory team line-up. As it is Mike’s last year racing full-time, it gives great motivation to me and our entire team to work hard and help him achieve the goals he has set for himself in his final retirement year.”
