Alpinestars provides some of the most advanced racing equipment in the MotoGP paddock and Red Bull KTM’s Bo Bendsneyder is under the company’s umbrella. We asked the motorcycle safety specialists what goes into protecting a Grand Prix athlete …
He might be 52, but whenever the opportunity to leap onto a racing bike presents itself, Jeremy McWilliams does not need to be asked twice. The one-time Grand Prix rider has maintained a close relationship with KTM for many years, and so he was not going to pass up the chance to join other ex-motorsport riders for the KTM 690 DUKE Battle in Assen.
Nathan Watson is truly making waves in the EnduroGP World Championship. The Red Bull KTM factory racer made the switch from Motocross to Enduro this year and, quite honestly, came into it with no expectation other than to learn as much as possible from the team. However, having only finished off the podium once since the start of the season, and fighting for the E1 title, the ever-smiling Watson has been a man on a mission.
There are few more emphatic success stories in the wide breadth of motorcycle racing than Pit Beirer’s stewardship of KTM Racing. We asked the insanely busy but chatty German for his time to explain how some of that achievement was possible, what he had to go through and learned and a few teasers on racing matters for the future …
As the only woman in the Moto3 world championship, KTM’s Spanish rider Maria Herrera faces great adversity in her second season. Women have never had an easy time in the motorcycle world championship, as history has shown time and again.
Take a close look whenever you watch Nicolò Bulega in action: the KTM youngster is rarely sat properly on the saddle. Yet his unconventional posture is obviously no barrier to success. Despite being in his debut season, Bulega is causing a storm in the Moto3 world championship.
The Austrian Drift Challenge has been a booming competition for years, with the Mazda MX-5 standing as the undisputed champion. High time that the latest model is challenged to a face-off with a motorcycle then. Picking up the gauntlet for two-wheels is Hanson Schruf, a master drifter with his KTM 450 SX-F – and already sitting in fourth spot in the world rankings for the flat track world championship.
Spectacular racing success and popular production machines: there is often a whole team of engineers behind successful designs, but things were different right up to the 1970s. Just as the name Kiska now represents the distinctive design of KTM models, many motorcycles were previously closely associated with their designer’s name. Precisely six decades ago, Hans Trunkenpolz, the head of KTM, succeeded in bringing the famous designer Ludwig Apfelbeck to Mattighofen.
