VOL. 52 ISSUE 35 SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 P41
FROSSARD BATTLES BACK INJURY
M
XGP racer Steven Frossard
is battling a back injury
that he suffered during the first
moto at the GP of Lombardy in
Mantova, Italy, August 23.
According to his Monster
Energy Kawasaki Racing Team,
Frossard underwent surgery on
his back at the Civic Hospital
of Brescia in France in order to
consolidate a fracture in one
of the dorsal vertebrae in his
back. The operation was suc-
cessful but Frossard has not yet
recovered full feeling in his legs.
As soon as possible, he was
transferred to the highly respect-
ed Hospital Jean Mermoz in
Lyon, where the medical staff is
currently working to reduce the
pain in his legs and back in an
effort to help him to regain the
mobility of both legs. The team
says that Frossard is displaying
his usual fighting spirit, even
though he knows that he enters
a long recovery period.
Team manager François
Lemariey, said, "The entire team
is, of course, behind Steven,
and we know that he is now in
one of the best environments
to recover from the injury. We
want to thank the medical staff
in Brescia who did their best,
and all the people who have
shown their support for Steven.
We know that it's now a ques-
tion of time, and we all hope that
Steven will be back soon on a
bike." CN
Motocrosser Steven Frossard
underwent surgery on his back
that he injured at the Grand Prix of
Lombardy in Italy.
HUSQVARNA 690 CAFÉ
RACER BREAKS COVER
H
usqvarna has been steadily rebuilding under
KTM ownership and one of the first new road-
going models to come out of the now Austrian
factory has been spotted in testing outside the
KTM factory in Mattighofen.
The café racer-styled machine is seen here
running the KTM 690 Duke engine (which is,
itself, getting updated motor for 2016 with a new
short-stroke edition), and appears to be the third
Husqvarna to carry a KTM engine after the Vit-
pilen and Svartpilen concept bikes were unveiled
last year with 390 Duke single-cylinder engines at
the Milan Show a salivating public.
Details of the café racer are scarce, with no
current word coming from Husqvarna as to when
we could expect to see it in production.
But the spotting of the machine shows prog-
ress is being made as Husqvarna attempts to
diversify itself from KTM despite using the same
powertrains. To this end, the machine could be
named the 701 (keeping with the 401 theme of
the Vitpilen and Svartpilen, just like KTM does
with the 390, 690 and 1290 Duke range). This
is only likely to expand in the future, as KTM and
Husqvarna boss Stefan Pierer will eventually have
models in their line up that utilize every one of
KTM's engine platforms, from the 125 Duke right
through to the Super Adventure 1290. CN
The new KTM 690 Duke-powered café racer from
Husqvarna has caught everyone by surprise.
