Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

In an effort to strengthen its position in the U.S. motocross and Supercross market, KTM announced last month the appoint- ment of Kurt Nicoll as the racing director for KTM North America. According to a press release from KTM, Nicoll will over- see the entire North American Off-Road Racing division, including the race teams from KTM Canada, in a restructuring designed to lead KTM into its next phase of racing success. Initially, Nicoll will take the position as North America Race Director for a period of two years, to include race seasons 2007 and 2008. During that time KTM intends to enter into the 450cc Motocross class in 2007 and then the 450cc Supercross class in 2008. For the current season and the 2007 Supercross season, KTM will con- centrate its efforts in the Lites division. cn: What changes do you see happening right away? kurtnicoll: Well, the main changes have already happened. Ron Heben was in charge of all racing in North America except for motocross and Supercross, and he left KTM in December to go to Honda. And Larry Brooks was the Supercross/motocross team manager, and he left in midseason. So that was two senior positions that we needed to fill, and we decided that with the experi- ence I have from Europe and the work I was already doing in the U.S., that I could fill both positions. We kind of always wanted to have one overall racing director in North America, but it never could work out between Larry and Ron. cn: So now you are running the off-road program and motocross and Supercross under one roof, so to speak. kurtnicoll: Well, we will still run separate programs, but it will all be controlled by me since I have experience in all of those disci- plines. Road racing is becoming more and more important in Europe and that is not my discipline. And the pinnacle of off-road is obviously Supercross and motocross, but I think the off-road programs here, like GNCC and Supermoto, are gaining all the time in popularity, as well. So where KTM's heritage is, and where our sales are, is [the U.S.]. Our most important market now is North America. cn: What changes do you have planned for the off-road portion of KTM's program? kurtnicoll: Well, there will be no big changes in how it will be run, but we will have some personnel changes. Juha Salminen is going back to Europe and David Knight is coming over here, so that is a fairly good trade. Both of these guys are absolutely awesome and they have been our top performers here at KTM for the last few years. I am looking forward to bringing David here, espe- cially since he is English. He is from the Isle of Man, which is somewhat close, and we have a lot of fun when he comes over. He is obviously going to be a big contender for the GNCC crown. cn: There is a rumor that he is going to skip the ISDE to ride the EnduroCross. Is that correct? kurtnicoll: Yes. He did the EnduroCross and the Last Man Standing events last year and he got a lot of exposure world- wide because of it. And since he is going to be based in the U.S. for the next cou- ple of years, we figured it would be best for him to do those events. All of his sponsors are going to be U.S.-based and those are high-profile events, so it made sense. Plus, he has had such a long season this year, and to do the ISDE takes three weeks, and we could use that time in the U.S. doing testing; plus he could do Last Man Standing and the EnduroCross. cn: Do you have plans for Sebastian Tortelli? kurtnicoll: Yes, Tortelli is going to run the outdoor motocross championship in the U.S. next year, no Supercross, just the Nationals on the new 450 SX-F. So that is going to be our first move into the U.S. with that bike. Our game plan for the 450 is to start with Tortelli in 2007, running the outdoor Nationals, and we are going to run a test program in Supercross on the 450 with our test rider Michael Sleeter. Then we will have a two-man team in the main Supercross class with the 450 in 2008. cn: What about Alessi? kurtnicoll: Mike Alessi will be one of the riders on the 450 in the Supercross class for 2008. By Shan Moore AMA Supermoto series regular Gary Trachy recently competed in and won the 84th annual running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Despite the fact that his clutch cable came out of its clevis during the run, forcing him to finish the climb without a clutch, Gary went on to win the 750cc Pro Class, topping last year's winner Micky Dymond and shattering the course record in the process. Trachy's record-set- ting time was 11 minutes and 46 seconds on the 156-turn, 12.43-mile course, which was almost half a minute faster than the old record. Trachy is also entrenched in a battle for the Unlimited-class Supermoto title this year, after finishing second at the opening round at Fontana, California. We spoke to the GP Husqvarna-backed rider at the Detroit round of the Supermoto Series, which was the week following his Pikes Peak victory. cn: Tell us about your record- setting run at Pikes Peak. garytrachy: The Peak is absolutely amazing, and that event is a family endeavor for me. We go every single year, and the goal ever since I started going there in 2001 was to get the over- all motorcycle record, and finally I had the right motorcycle this year, which was a Husqvarna 660 SMR, and it really worked on that hill. I had the fastest practice time and the fastest qualifying time, so I felt really good going into the run. But I lost my clutch halfway into the run when my clutch cable popped loose, and I thought I was in trouble, because after the halfway point, it was all hairpin turns, and I didn't have a slipper clutch, so I was afraid it was gonna stall. I was really excited to cross the line with the record. And what made it even more exciting was that me and Micky were just one second apart. I would much rather have a good race with someone, rather than just running by myself. cn: You set a new record, as well. garytrachy: Yes. Last year I was disap- pointed because I invited Micky to go there and race. We were running differ- ent classes; he was running the 750 class and I was running my 450 Supermoto. Last year, the record was nine years old and I ended up going faster than the record, but Mickey came in with an even faster time, and set a new record. So that fired me up to come back this year, after I had invited him last year and he won the record. I had finally beat the nine-year- old record and then he beats that! I thought, "oh man." So when I came back, I decided to bring a bigger bike. cn: So how do you feel about setting the record? garytrachy: It was amazing. It is just a real honor to set the record and be the fastest motorcycle ever to climb the hill. That's one to tell the grandchildren about. cn: How did you get into Supermoto? garytrachy: I got into Supermoto in 2002 and the reason was because of Pikes Peak. At Pikes Peak in 2001 we were running 19-inch dirt track tires and one of the guys that was going really fast that year was running a Supermoto set up with 17-inch wheels. So after that we decided to check into those wheels and brakes and stuff. We ended up buying Supermoto stuff just for Pikes Peak. So we wanted to test the stuff before Pikes Peak, and I tested it in a local Supermoto race, and I thought it was a lot of fun. So that's how I got started. By Shan Moore JULY 19, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 14 Kurt Nicoll: KTM USA's New Leader Gary Trachy: King of the Peak

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