Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Meyers Wins KTM Ultimate Race A merican Scott Myers won the first-ever KTM Ultimate Race. After six days of racing in the Moroccan sands as part of the Merzouga Rally against 11 other KTM Ultimate Race qualifiers on equally prepared KTM 790 Adventure R motorcycles, it was the 50-year-old from the USA who tasted victory. Entry to the KTM Ultimate Race was available to any rider who took part in one of the six KTM Adven- ture Rallies held during 2018 and at the start of this year. The special qualification events tested the rid- ers to show if they had the excel- lent machine control, navigational skill and competent mechanical ability required to line up on a rally- prepared KTM 790 Adventure R for a special class held within the Merzouga Rally, which was won by Yamaha rider Adrien Van Beveren. Only the top two riders from each event were chosen, and they were supported like KTM Factory riders. The race began on March 31 with a short prologue and finished on April 5, with the KTM Ultimate Race competitors having to cover five stages, including a marathon Stage 3 with an overnight in a bivouac and no outside mechani- cal support. In total, almost 1100 kilometers (683 miles) of hard off- road riding and navigating would push them to their physical and mental limits. Myers was consistently among the top places for all stages and took the early advantage with vic- tory in the prologue. Radek Bur- kat from Canada retaliated for the Stage 1 win and New Zealand's Kevin Archer fought strongly to take Stage 2. But it was Myers, again, who took the honors in the grueling marathon Stage 3 and sealed the win with runner-up in Stages 4 and 5. After an emotional conclusion to the race, not only does My- ers have the honor of being the first-ever KTM Ultimate Race victor, he will also get to keep his race-winning machine along with receiving an all-expenses-paid package for two people to see the 2020 Dakar Rally. "This is the best feeling in the world," Meyers said after winning. "You have no idea how happy I am right now. It was extremely tough, especially in the last stage. I just kept watching and think- ing this has got to end! It was so hard. I was following Jordan [Huibregtse], he crashed, then he followed me, then I crashed. And we just kept doing that for the whole stage. But what an awe- some experience. So cool." CN KTM ULTIMATE RACE 1. Scott Myers (USA) 2. Radek Burkat (CAN) 3. Jordan Huibregtse (USA) 4. Sebastian Blum (GER) 5. Christiaan Odendaal (RSA) IN THE WIND P44 (Left) Adrien Van Beveren was the overall winner of the Merzouga Rally 2019 held in Morocco. (Below) American Scott Meyers won the first- ever KTM Ultimate Race that was run in conjunction with the Merzouga Rally. PHOTO: MARCIN KIN