On a day where navigation remained the key issue for riders competing in the Sealine rally in Qatar, KTM factory rider Marc Coma finished Leg Three as part of a closely fought group of four lead riders in second place with a small 2 minute 15 seconds deficit to leader Joan Barreda.

Coma is in second overall about 1 minute 30 behind Barreda. Coma’s factory teammate Jordi Viladoms was fourth and is third overall setting up a battle between these three Spanish riders.

Coma said this year’s edition of the rally was very difficult. “There are longer stages, also for the final two days, and the surface is very stony and white so it is very difficult to see the piste. It’s also wet. We still have a long way to go and after three days of hard riding and we must really stay very focused and try to push.” He said the rally will probably only be decided on the last day.

The KTM factory team’s two other riders, Sam Sunderland of Britain and Portugal’s Ruben Faria finished 6-7 in the stage. Sunderland is sixth overall but Faria, who did not finish on Tuesday, is using the remainder of the rally as training. Sunderland, the team’s newest signing was the Stage 2 winner and had to open the track, a difficult task given how hard the navigation is proving to be. All of the KTM factory riders are competing on the 2014 KTM 450 Rally bike on which Coma in January won his fourth Dakar victory and KTM's thirteenth.

Wednesday was the longest stage in this year’s rally. Thursday, the penultimate day of the 2014 edition takes riders on a 410.91 km loop stage around southern Qatar, of which 404.18 is timed special. The rally will finish on Friday afternoon after riders complete another 362.97 km of timed special.

Sealine Rally Qatar
Leg Three results
?1, Joan Barreda, ESP Honda 4 hours 53.43
2, Marc Coma, ESP, KTM at 4:55.28
3, Helder Rodrigues, PRT, Honda 4:57.45
4, Jordi Viladoms, ESP, KTM 4:59.54
5, Paolo Goncalves, PRT, Honda, 5:01.46
6, Sam Sunderland, GBR, KTM, 5:03.52
7, Ruben Faria, PRT, KTM 5:21.34

Overall standings after Leg 3
1, Barreda 11 hours 10.37
2, Coma 11:11.56
3, Viladoms 11:17.58
4, Goncalves 11:20.13
5, Rodrigues 11:20.32
6, Sunderland 11:25.48

KTM Results
Sealine Rally Qatar
Leg Three (of five) results
?1, Joan Barreda, ESP Honda 4 hours 53.43
2, Marc Coma, ESP, KTM at 4:55.28
3, Helder Rodrigues, PRT, Honda 4:57.45
4, Jordi Viladoms, ESP, KTM 4:59.54
5, Paolo Goncalves, PRT, Honda, 5:01.46
6, Sam Sunderland, GBR, KTM, 5:03.52
7, Ruben Faria, PRT, KTM 5:21.34

Overall standings after Leg 3
1, Barreda 11 hours 10.37
2, Coma 11:11.56
3, Viladoms 11:17.58
4, Goncalves 11:20.13
5, Rodrigues 11:20.32
6, Sunderland 11:25.48

KTM factory rider and multi Dakar winner Marc Coma launched his bid for another victory in the Sealine Rally in Qatar on Monday, finishing just one minute 02 behind leader and fellow Spaniard Joan Barreda.

Back in the desert sands after the season’s opening round of the FIM Cross Countries Rally World Championship, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge two weeks ago Coma, always a wily tactician is perfectly placed for a good start in Tuesday’s Stage 2. He starts just behind Barreda, whose job it will be to open the track.

Marc Coma: "I'm happy, it has been a positive first step. The terrain is completely different to Abu Dhabi and I decided to take it a bit easy because I did not yet have the feeling for it here. The rally is long and it was important to start without making any mistakes. "

Coma’s factory teammates Jordi Villadoms, Sam Sunderland and Ruben Faria finished third, seventh and eighth on the relatively short opening day and it was up to Sunderland and Faria to open the track because they are yet to score points in the 2014 world championship. Sunderland started in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge but had to retire. Faria of Portugal is competing in his first event of the 2014 series.

Stefan Huber, KTM factory team coordinator: “The first stage was only short but very difficult navigation with lots of parallel tracks to negotiate. It was up to Sam and Ruben to open the track on the first day and they lost a bit of time with the navigation. Marc did a good job today and all our riders are in good shape.”
 
Riders competed over a total distance of 230.86 km, 164.18 km of which was timed special. The stage started at the Losail racing circuit and ending at the Sealine bivouac.

The factory team riders are competing on the 2014 edition of the KTM 450 Rally bike on which Coma won his fourth personal Dakar title in January, and secured KTM’s 13th Dakar victory.

Coma finished a very close second in the Desert Challenge, finishing five days of punishing desert riding with a deficit of just 20 seconds. He is a two time winner in Qatar but admits it is a very tough rally, but one that he likes.

“The key to a good rally in Qatar is to not make any mistakes because the navigation is complicated,” Coma said. “The terrain gives the impression of being easy but it is not. It is important to be mentally prepared and to have a good strategy.”

On Tuesday riders face a longer stretch, a total of 484.96 km, with 396.46 km of timed special, a loop that takes them away and back into the bivouac.

KTM Results
Sealine Rally Qatar
Stage One results
?1, Joan Barreda ESP, Honda, one hour 42.31
2, Marc Coma, ESP, KTM at 01.02
3, Jordi Villadoms, ESP, KTM at 05:04
4, Mohammed Balooshi, UAE KTM UAE at 07.03
5, Helder Rodrigues, POR, Honda at 09.24
Other KTM
7, Sam Sunderland GBR, KTM at 17.03
8, Ruben Faria, POR, KTM at 19.12

Red Bull KTM’s Antonio Cairoli and Jeffery Herlings made it an orange day at the mud soaked track at Sevlievo, Bulgaria on Sunday sealing both the MXGP and MX2 GP for the factory team.

Cairoli of Italy now has a substantial 28-point lead in the 2014 championship. Herlings, who missed the Brazil GP through injury picked up two impressive race wins for his top step narrows the gap to MX2 championship leader Arnaud Tonus to just four points.

MX2 Action
Cairoli was sparkling form on the KTM 350 SX-F, picking up the holeshot in the opening MXGP moto. He relinquished the lead to Gautier Paulin 21 minutes into the race and was content to sit behind him in second place. While the rain stayed away at least for this race, ruts in the technically and physically demanding track got deeper and more difficult as it progressed.
The weather turned on riders as they lined up for the second MXGP moto but Cairoli, shot out of the gates to grab the holeshot and hung onto the lead throughout.
This was a perfect tactic to stay out of the worst of the mud chaos behind as track conditions got worse. He was in front by 11 seconds going into the final laps, enough to preserve his lead when he did make a couple of errors in the deep and muddy ruts in the closing stages.
Antonio Cairoli: “I was happy to win in Bulgaria, the last time here was 2007, and I’m happy to gain some good points after we lost a few in Trentino. That’s good for the championship. The track was very slippery in the second moto and we had to find different lines. The two motos were in completely different conditions and we don’t often see that in a GP.”
MX2 Action
Herlings was second on the grid for the opening MX2 moto but it was teammate Jordi Tixier who rocketed out of the gates, took the holeshot and quickly distanced himself from the rest of the field. And while Tixier was in charge in the first half of the race, Herlings sat around 4-5 among a group of riders who have been his biggest challengers this season.
Swiss rider Tonus caught Tixier with 11 minutes left of race time race. Herlings moved up to third, made the pass on Tixier and set out to close down on Tonus.  Then Tonus crashed after a mistake a right-hander in the closing stages and handed the win to Herlings.?
There was no double about Herlings’ intentions as he quickly moved into the lead in lap three of his second moto. The Dutch teenager was challenged by Tonus throughout the race but he was unmoved and went on to seal his double race win.

Jeffrey Herlings: 'I am trying to fight back after my injury problems and now we have won four of four GPs this year and we're only 4 points away from the leader so I try to keep on charging. I struggled with arm pump in the first moto but it was okay after that. The track today was difficult for me. I'm not used to these conditions and especially with the rain but we showed that even on a bad day we can still win."

Sevlievo was a confidence-boosting outing for Tixier, who finished with a 3-3 result for overall third, even though he was hampered by a slight hand injury.

Tixier said he had had a long talk with team manager Stefan Everts and Technical director Dirk Gruebel on Saturday night and they decided to change something on the bike.
“It was working pretty good today,” Tixier said. “I had two good starts and I had a good rhythm all the time. The second moto was difficult for me because I had to throw away my goggles after 3-4 laps because there was water inside them. It wasn’t easy to come back on Ferrandis but I found a good line to pass him for third.”

Herlings and Cairoli, who both enjoy riding in the sand are looking for another good result in Valkenswaad, Netherlands on May 4. Herlings will be racing in front of his partisan home crowd on a track that he knows intimately and on which he has never been beaten.
 
Strong KTM riders in EMX at Sevlievo
In EMX125, KTM rider Davy Pootjes of the Netherlands finished with a 1-3 result for his second GP victory to retain the red plate as championship leader. He came back strong after a crash in race one on Saturday but said he was stiff and sore ahead of Sunday’s second race. “But I took the holeshot and after about three laps I felt good again and even though I had a crash I came back from seventh to third which was good enough for the overall win.”

The opening round of the EMX 250 class saw British KTM riders Ben Watson and Steven Clarke pick up 2-3. Watson finished with equal points to GP winner Jorge Zaragoza but came away with the red plate for having picked up a race win.

It was also the opening round of the EMX 300 class, won by Italian rider Samuele Bernardini but KTM riders picked up the places 2-5 through Italian Marc Maddii, Toms Macuks of Latvia and Hungarian duo Bence Szvoboda, and Mark Szoke.

Riding in Denmark in the FIM European Championship 85 cc class, Jorge Prado of Spain finished third to round off a good day for the next generation of KTM riders.

MXGP of Bulgaria

Rd. 5 at Sevlievo
MXGP Results
1, Antonio Cairoli, ITA, KTM 47
2, Gautier Paulin, FRA, Kawasaki, 43
3, Jeremy van Horebeek, BEL, Yamaha 40
4, Clement Desalle, BEL, Suzuki, 36
5, Kevin Strijbos, BEL, Suzuki, 36
Other KTM
8, Shaun Simpson, GBR, KTM 23
16, Matiss Karro, LAT, KTM, 11
17, Jake Nichols, GBR, KTM 10
Championship standings after Rd. 5
1, Cairoli, 222
2, Desalle 194
3, Van Horebeek, 194
4, Paulin 180
5, Nagl, 66
Other KTM
10, Simpson, 95
16, Nichols, 60
17, Karro 54
Manufacturer’s Standings after Rd. 5
1, KTM 222
2, Suzuki 200
3. Yamaha 194
MX2 Results
1, Jeffrey Herlings, NED, KTM, 50 points
2, Arnaud Tonus, SUI, Kawasaki, 44
3, Jordi Tixier, FRA, KTM 40
4, Dylan Ferrandis, FRA, Kawasaki, 36
5, Romain Febvre, FRA, Husqvarna, 32
Other KTM
11. Ivo Monticell1, ITA, KTM, 19
12, Harri Kulas, FIN, KTM 15
15, Valentin Guillod, SUI, KTM, 12
18, Jose Butron, ESP, KTM, 5
20, Eddie Hjortmarker, SWE, KTM
MX2 Championship standings after Rd. 5
1, Tonus, 198
2, Herlings, 194
3, Glen Coldenhoff, NED, Suzuki 176
4, Febvre, 158
5, Ferrandis, 154
Other KTM
6, Tixier, 147
9, Guillod 107
10, Butron, 105
16, Mel Pocock, GBR, 46
?Manufacturers Standing after Rd. 5
1, KTM, 224  
2, Kawasaki, 216   
3, Suzuki, 179
EMX125 Rd. 2 at Sevlievo
1, David Pootjes, NED, KTM 45
2, Michael Ivanov, BUL, KTM, 40
3, Tomass Sileika, LAT, KTM 40
4, David Herbreteau, FRA, YAM, 37
5, Brian Hsu, GER, Suzuki, 36
Championship points after Rd. 2
1, Pootjes, 95
2, Herbreteau, 69
3, Hsu, 69
4, Ivanov, 62
 5, Silekia, 60
Manufacturer’s points after Rd. 2
1, KTM 97
2, Yamaha 71
3, Suzuki, 69
EMX250 Rd. 1 at Sevlievo
1, Jorge Zaragoza, ESP, Kawasaki 37 points
2, Ben Watson, GBR, KTM 37
3, Steven Clarke, GBR, KTM, 36
4, Thomas Kjer Olsen, DEN, Honda, 33
5, Michelle Cervellin, ITA, 28
Other KTM
6, Pauls Jonass, LAT, KTM 28
7, Ceriel Klein Kromhof, NED, KTM, 27
 8, Brent van Doninck, VEL, KTM, 26
Championship Standings after Rd.1
1, Watson 37 (by virtue of one race win)
2, Zaragoza, 37
3. Clarke, 36
Manufacturer’s standings after Rd. 1
1, Honda, 45
2, KTM, 45
3, Kawasaki 37
EMX300 Rd. 1 at Sevlievo
1, Samuele Bernardini, ITA, TM 50 points
2, Marc Maddii, ITA, KTM 42
3, Toms Macuks, LAT, KTM, 40
4, Bence Szvoboda, HUN, KTM, 38
5, Mark Szoke, HUN, KTM, 31

Championship points after Rd. 1
1, Bernardini, 50 points
2, Maddii, 42
3, Macuks, 40

Manufacturers points after Rd. 1
1, TM 50
2, KTM 44
3, Yamaha 29 

Red Bull KTM factory rider Jonny Walker fought the good fight in the traditional The Tough One Hard Enduro on Saturday at the UK’s Hawkstone Park finishing two minutes behind winner David Knight after the grueling three-hours race.

Walker, who rides the KTM 300 EXC was fastest off at the start and held onto the lead for the opening laps before getting into difficulties in some difficult climbs and steep descents in the woods section. Knight managed to get past him only to relinquish the lead later into the race when he crashed out but the veteran of six wins recaptured the front position when Walker got into difficulties and went on to seal the victory.

It was these two riders who dominated and had distanced themselves from the rest of the field by about seven minutes. by the end of the race..

“It was good but a very difficult. I led for a good part of the race but I know I have to improve my stamina,” Walker said. ??“I wanted to push as hard as I could early on and try to gap everyone but it didn’t happen. David was right on my tail and I couldn’t sake him off. When he got past me I wanted to follow him and see what lines he was riding but he crashed and I was back in the lead again. Once he came past me I had nothing left to hold him off,” the 22- year-old Briton conceded.
 
Walker recently moved to France to be nearer training and racing possibilities and to take advantage of better weather. He will now concentrate on getting ready for the Erzberg Rodeo in six weeks time.

This year’s The Tough One was a different character to other hard enduro events on the calendar, according to Julian Stephens from Walker’s KTM support team. “It was very sandy and incorporated a lot of the motocross track but there were man-made obstacles and some very difficult climbs in the woods with lots of rocks and big tree roots to negotiate. Today’s race favored riders with motocross and traditional enduro experience."

Alfredo Gomez of Spain completed the podium. Veteran British extreme enduro specialist Graham Jarvis was fourth followed by KTM rider Paul Bolton and KTM factory rider Andreas Lettenbichler was sixth to give KTM three of the top six places.  

The Tough One Extreme Enduro
Hawkstone Park UK
Pro class results
1, David Knight, GBR, Sherco 3:00.24
2, Jonny Walker, GBR, KTM, 3:02.19
3, Alfredo Gomez, ESP, Husqvarna, 3:09. 24
4, Graham Jarvis, GBR, Husqvarna, 3:11.46
5, Paul Bolton, Britain, KTM, 17 laps 3;01.16
6, Andreas Lettenbichler, GER, KTM 

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Jack Miller of Australia pulled off an amazing pole to flag victory on Sunday at the Moto3 GP of the Americas in Austin Texas, the second round of the 2014 World Championship.

Miller won his first GP in Qatar in the opening round and picked up his first pole position on Saturday, which he converted to the victory on the sweeping Texas circuit.

Miller also became the first-ever Australian rider to take consecutive victories in the small cylinder class, formerly 125cc and now Moto3.

Miller had a great start from his pole position and with the threat of rain hanging over the circuit, decided to make an early break. Initially it was only Efren Vazquez of Spain who went with him.

While Miller never relinquished the lead throughout the 18-lap race, the two front riders were joined in the early stages by Alex Marquez and began to pull away from the following pack. They were caught in the last laps by Romano Fenati on the KTM and the group extended the gap to three seconds.
 
Vazquez and Fenati were poised to make a challenge in the last laps but Miller hung on to the advantage. Then Marquez crashed out, leaving the three front-runners to go on and seal the top three places. Miller and Fenati made it 1-2 for KTM.

Miller said he couldn’t have asked for a better race. “The KTM RC 250GP was running perfectly and with a setup that allowed us to preserve the tires and have enough grip to push on in the final laps,” he said. “I was made to fight through to the end, but it was really good. Achieving a second consecutive win is amazing. We must continue in this way and progress with each GP.”

It was also a great race for Red Bull KTM Ajo’s rookie rider Karel Hanika of the Czech Republic. The 2013 Red Bull Rookies MotoGP Cup champion finished tenth, his best result since joining the team.

Miller leaves the USA with a perfect scorecard of 50 points while Hanika is thirteenth in the standings and is in front in the Rookie of the Year standings. KTM riders took five of the top ten places.

The championship continues on April 27 when it travels to the Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina.

Red Bull GP of the Americas
Moto3
Results Rd. 2
1. Jack Miller, AUS, KTM 41'06.659
2. Romano Fenati, ITA, KTM +0.069
3. Efren Vazquez, SPA, Honda    +0.172
4. Alex Rins, SPA, Honda    +7.182
5.Jakub Kornfeil, CZE, KTM +7.264
6. Alexis Masbou, FRA, Honda +20.107
7. Francesco Bagnaia, ITA, KTM +20.381
8. Danny Kent, GBR, Husqvarna +23.981
9. John McPhee, GBR, Honda +24.032
10. Karel Hanika, CZE, KTM +24.222
Other KTM
13. Enea Bastianini, ITA, KTM +34.955
18. Eric Granado, BRA, KTM +49.325
24. Hafiq Azmi, MAL, KTM     +2'04.082

Standings after Rd. 2
1, Miller 50
2, Vazquez 32
3, Fenati, 24
4, Rins, 24
5, Kornfeil 21
Other KTM
8, Bagnaia, 15
12, Vinales, 8
13, Hanika, 8
14, Antonelli, 7
17, Bastianini, 3

The KTM Enduro Factory Team continued their dominance in Portugal for Round 3 & 4 of the world championship at Vale de Cambra, completing two days of competition each with wins in all senior classes and all five factory riders on the podium.

Following on from a great performance the previous weekend at the GPs of Catalunya, the factory team has made a very promising start to the 2014 racing season.

Saturday’s Round Three saw wins in all three classes and all five KTM factory riders on the podium for what team boss Fabio Fairoli said was a great day for his lineup. Fairoli was even more pleased after Sunday, when his riders once again delivered. “Nambotin and Cervantes were both great this weekend and today Meo was incredibly fast in the last three tests. When it comes to limits, he has no limits!”

Christophe Nambotin, Antoine Meo and Ivan Cervantes won E1, E2, and E3 on both days and they were well supported by Cristobal Guerrero in E1and the team rookie Matt Phillips of Australia who were both on the podium each day.

E1 Action
?On Saturday Nambotin was a force in E1, winning seven of the twelve tests and making an excellent recovery from a crash in the first extreme test of the day to end up on the top of the podium. The French rider and current E3 world champion closed off his day with a 25-second advantage over second placed Eero Remes.

Nambotin was well supported by Guerrero who is clearly free of the injury problems that held him back last year. Despite a number of crashes the Spanish rider was never out of the top five and accrued enough time advantage to wrap up his day with a podium third. Nambotin was even more confident on Sunday with another eight test wins while Guerrero again finished with a podium third.

E2 Action
Meo may have had a slow start on Saturday finishing fourth and third in the first two tests but the he took off. At the end of the day he had six test wins to his name and was 4.13 seconds overall in front of rival Pela Renet. Meo, always impressive, also picked up seven test wins in E2 on Sunday including big wins in the last three of the day.

E3 Action
Ivan Cervantes and Matt Phillips, experience and youth, are proving to be a winning combination in the big class and were again 1-2 on the podium with the veteran Spaniard 28 second ahead of Phillips who is in his rookie season with the factory team.

Cervantes later joked that the young Australian was making it hard for him but said he was more than happy with his day. “Matt is very fast but half way through the race I decided to take a different line and try not to make any mistakes and that paid off,” Cervantes said, adding that the extreme test had been very difficult.

Cervantes picked up another win on Sunday with a great display of consistently good results, while Phillips, a rider that Farioli says still has a lot to learn, showed enough flashes of brilliance to prove he is definitely a rider to watch in the future.

The next two rounds, the GP of Greece are May 10-11, 2014
 
Enduro World Championship GP of Portugal
E1 Results Rd.
1, Christophe Nambotin, FRA, KTM
2, Eero Remes, FIN, TM
3, Cristobal Guerrero, ESP, KTM
4, Anthony Boissiere, FRA, SHERCO
5, Jeremy Tarroux, FRA, SHERCO
OTHER KTM
8, Rudy Moroni, ITA, KTM
9, Edward Hubner, GER, KTM

Championship standings after Rd. 4
1, Nambotin, 80
2, Remes, 60
3, Guerrero, 60
4, Boissiere 53
5, Tarroux 48
Other KTM
8, Hubner 26
9, Moroni, 25
13, Rodrigues 7

E2 Results Rd. 4
1, Antoine Meo, FRA, KTM
2, Pierre-Alexandre Renet, FRA, Husqvarna
3, Alex Salvini, ITA, Honda
4, Johnny Aubert, FRA, Beta
5, Jonathan Barragan, ESP, Husqvarna
Other KTM
10, Goncalo Reis, PRT, KTM

Championship standings after Rd. 4
1, Meo 77
2, Renet 69
3, Aubert 58
4, Salvini 51
5, Santolino 42

E3 Results Rd. 4
1, Ivan Cervantes, ESP, KTM
2, Matti Seistola, FIN, Sherco
3, Matthew Phililips, AUS, KTM
4, Luis Correia, PRT, BETA
5, Mathias Bellino, FRA, Husqvarna
Other KTM
6, Jeremy Joly, FRA, KTM
7, Simone Albergoni, ITA, KTM

Championship standings after Rd. 4
1, Cervantes 80
2, Phillips, 64
3, Seistola 57
4, Bellino 51
5, Correia 46
Other KTM
6, Joly, FRA, KTM 39
9, Albergoni, ITA, KTM    26
12, Balletti, ITA, KTM 16

EJ Results Rd. 4
1, Daniel McCanny, GBR, Beta
2, Giacomo Redondi, ITA, Beta
3, Loic Larrieu, FRA, Husqvarna
4, Jamie McCanny, GBR, Husqvarna
5, Nicolo Mori, ITA, KTM
Other KTM
7, Eloi Salsench, ESP, KTM
8, Rannar Uusna, EST, KTM
9, Lars Lofgren, SWE, KTM
10, Kirian Mirabet, ESP, KTM

Championship standings after Rd. 4
1, McCanny 80
2, Redondi 66
3, Larrieu 60
4, McCanny J, 46
5, Mori, ITA, KTM 46

The Red Bull KTM Factory team was in action this weekend in Arco Di Trento, Italy for Round 4 of the Motocross World Championship, which yielded a hard fought overall win for Jeffrey Herlings in the MX2 class and a fifth place the factory teammate Antonio Cairoli.

Herlings, who has been injured and missed the GP of Brazil came away with a 1-2 results for the overall in MX2. Cairoli fought back to sixth place in his first race but a series of mishaps on the slick and slippery track knocked him down to fourth in the second race to finish overall fifth. The Italian rider still leads the MXGP championship standings.

MXGP action
Cairoli, who had crashed in warm-up on Sunday morning, got off to an uncharacteristic bad start in the opening moto to be buried back at twelfth on the very technical track. Eighteen minutes into the race he slipped past three riders in one corner to move up to seventh and then concentrated on closing down an eight second gap to the front group. He fought back to capture sixth place but then ran out of time. The race went to Cairoli’s rival in the points, Gautier Paulin.

Cairoli was sixth out of the gate in his second race and progressively worked his way up to second. But with 14 minutes to go he had a series of near crashes on the increasingly slippery track that dropped him back to fourth. He made a valiant attempt to close on the three lead riders in the last few laps but slipped again in the final lap and had to settle for an eventual overall fifth.

The Italian multi world champion who rides the KTM 350 SX-F said he had tried to get a good result for his many fans. “I did have the fastest lap in both races but I need to be more consistent,” he said. “I really wanted to win the second race today an I was working my way back to the front then I made another mistake.” Cairoli said he was hoping for a better result next weekend in Bulgaria.

MX2 Action
Herlings, on the KTM 250 SX-F fought hard throughout to win the opening moto by three seconds from Arnaud Tonus but admitted later that he was missing some bike rhythm after his injury layoff. Teammate Jordi Tixier was sixth.

Herlings knew he had moved up to third place in the championship points after the first moto and was intent in trimming the deficit even further in the second race. He was sixth out of the gate and sat at fifth through the opening half of the race before making a move into fourth place with 16 minutes and two laps to go. He wrapped up the race in second place after the win went to compatriot Glenn Coldenhoff, which was enough for the overall GP victory. Jeffrey is now in third place in the points, just 10 points off the leader Coldenhoff.

Herlings said the races were not perfect but he was still happy with the outcome. “My starts were not so good but I managed to work my way to the front to win the first race and to finish second in the second race. Considering I was injured and had also been sick with a virus infection and I haven’t had much time on the bike, we can’t really complain.”   

Tixier was riding with a badly swollen wrist from a crash on Saturday but still managed to pull off a couple of sixth places. “I think my speed was better than in Brazil but it was difficult to ride with my wrist problem and there was a lot of pain in the braking bumps. But since Brazil KTM has let me try a lot of new things on my bike and I am feeling much more confident, also in my head.”

Arco di Trento was also host to the second round of the WMX championship that yielded a podium third for KTM’s Natalie Kane of Britain who now leads the championship points by two from Chiara Fontanese, who won the GP in front of her home crowd.

Also racing in Arco were the 125 riders in the opening round of the EMX125 and the stand out rider was Davy Pootjes of the Netherlands who picked up two straight victories in impressive style on a track he described as ‘very slippery, with lots of bumps”. “But I liked it,” he said. “I felt really good on the bike. I had a good start in the first moto and I won easily and in the second I was sixth at the start and passed the other guys and won with a nice gap. I was riding good all weekend and now I’m looking forward to Bulgaria.”

MXGP Results
1, Clement Desalle, BEL, Suzuki, 47
2, Jeremy van Horebeek, BEL, Yamaha 42
3, Kevin Strijbos, BEL, Suzuki, 36
4, Max Nagl, GER, Honda 34
5, Tony Cairoli, ITA, KTM 33
Other KTM
7, Shaun Simpson, GBR, KTM 24
11. Jake Nichols, GBR, KTM 18
13, Matiss Karro, LAT, KTM 15
?
MXGP Championship points after Rd. 4
1, Cairoli KTM, 175 points
2, Desalle 158
3, Van Horebeek 154
4, Nagl 144
5, Paulin 137
Other KTM
10, Simpson 72
15. Nichols 50
17, Karro 43

MXGP Manufacturer's Standings after Rd. 4
1, KTM 175
2, Suzuki 160
3, Yamaha 154

MX2 at Arco di Trento
Results Rd. 4
1, Jeffrey Herlings, NED, KTM 47 points
2, Arnaud Tonus SUI, Kawasaki 42
3, Glenn Coldenhoff, NED, Suzuki 38
4, Valentin Guillod, SUI, KTM 36
5, Romain Febvre, FRA, Husqvarna 30
6, Jordi Tixier, FRA, KTM 30
Other KTM
9, Jose Butron, ESP, KTM 26
13, Hari Kullas, FIN, KTM 12
16. Mel Pocock, GBR, KTM 9
17, Pauls Jonass, LAT, KTM 9
19, Damon Graulus, BEL, KTM 7
?
Championship Standings after Rd. 4
1, Tonus, 154
2, Coldenhoff, 148
3, Herlings, 144
4, Febvre, 126
5, Dylan Ferrandis, FRA, Kawasaki, 118
6, Tixier, 107
Other KTM
8, Butron, 100
9, Guilloid, 95

MX2 Manufacturers Standings after Rd. 4
1, KTM 174 points
2, Kawasaki 172
3, Suzuki, 151

WMX at Arco di Trento
Results Rd. 2
1, Chiara Fontanese, ITA, Yamaha 45 points
2, Stephanie Laier, GER, Suzuki 38
3, Natalie Kane, GBR, KTM 38
4, Livia Lancelot, FRA Kawasaki 38
5, Francesca Noicera, ITA, Suzuki 32

Championship Standings after Rd. 2
1, Kane, 80
2, Fontanese, 78
3, Rutledge, 75
4, Lancelot, 74
5, Laier 72

EMX125 Championship at Arco di Trento
Results Rd. 1
1, Davy Pootjes, NED, KTM, 50 points
2, Michele Baraiolo, ITA, 35
3, Joakin Furbetta, ITA, 34
4, Brian Hsu, GER, 33
5, David Herbreteau FRA, Yamaha 32

Championship Standings after Rd. 1
1, Pootjes, 50
2, Baraiolo, 35
3, Furbetta, 34
4, Hsu, 33
5, Herbreteau 32 

Red Bull KTM Factory rider Ryan Dungey picked up a podium third in the 450-class at round fifteen of the Monster Energy Supercross Series held at Century Link Field while teammate Ken Roczen finished a hard fought seventh overall. Both riders were on the KTM 450 SX-F.

Roczen and Dungey were among the top contenders in the early practice sessions. Roczen finished qualifying on top of the lap times to win a place in the first heat. Dungey was fourth fastest in practice putting him in heat two.

Dungey kicked the night show off in fine form at second out of the start gate. By lap five he had found his rhythm and after making a few attempts to take the lead from Mike Alessi he made a pass stick with a lap to go and went on to win the heat.

Roczen qualified for the main by finishing heat two in third spot after not getting the best of starts. He was seventh out of the gate but by lap two had worked his way up to fourth. He maneuvered his way past KTM rider Andrew Short and started to reel in Barcia in second place before time ran out on him and he transferred to the main event in third place.

In the main, Dungey got a good start rounding the opening turn just shy of the holeshot behind Villopoto. However, several mistakes in the early part of the race allowed James Stewart to gain ground on Dungey and to pass him in lap four. Dungey pulled it together and held off a hard charging Eli Tomac to finish the night on the podium beside Villopoto and Stewart.

Roczen got a reasonable start and rounded the opening lap in fifth position. But a mistake in the rutted out whoops section just before the finish line jump on lap five cost him several positions. There was then a three-way battle between Roczen, Short and Canard for most of the remainder of the race with Roczen ultimately taking the checkers in seventh place.

“I am not happy with the way I rode and I made quite a few mistakes tonight,” stated Dungey. “I need to go back to the drawing board this week with the team in California. Having a weekend away from racing should do me good and I want to come out at New Jersey feeling refreshed and ready to go.”

“I just didn’t ride very well,” said Roczen. “I am really lucky that I managed to save myself from crashing in those whoops. That could have ended up a lot worse. I just didn’t find my rhythm again after that. I battled with Shorty and Canard for quite a bit but I just didn’t have my A game on tonight.”

Next Event: New Jersey SX – April 26, 2014

US Supercross Rd. 15 (of 17) at Seattle
450-class results
1, Ryan Villopoto
2, James Stewart
3, Ryan Dungey KTM
4, Eli Tomac
5, Justin Barcia
6, Trey Canard
7, Ken Roczen KTM
8, Andrew Short KTM

Championship Points after 15 of 17 rounds
1, Villopoto 318
2, Stewart 270
3, Dungey KTM 267
4, Roczen KTM 249
5, Barcia 214

Manufacturers points after 15 of 17 rounds
1, Kawasaki 334
2, KTM 317
3, Suzuki 303