National Enduro Series – 3rd round Forest Hill, LA and more KTM News

The two teammates kept it as close as possible by finishing all six special tests within their minute causing the victor to be determined by mere seconds.
 
‘The track conditions were great for us today considering the amount of rain they’ve had here over the past few weeks,’ commented Lafferty. The course was made up of one loop that had three special tests. After they ran the first three, the riders repeated those three tests to add up to six special tests for the day. ‘It’s not typical for us to repeat tests,’ stated Lafferty. ‘However, I think we all benefited from it today. Once we went back to the tests the second time we had an advantage because we knew what to expect which ensured an easier course encouraging faster lap times.’
 
Lafferty and Bobbitt traded off special test wins. Lafferty won the first and Bobbitt won the second and so forth through the end. At the end of the day Lafferty, the 8-time National Enduro Champion, took home the win by a mere three seconds over Bobbitt. ‘I am glad to win this one. I was a little nervous since my wrist has still been sore from an injury two weeks ago, but I know Bobbitt was banged up this week too. I guess we always seem to keep it close, but that’s what makes it so much fun,’ reported Lafferty. 
 
Next Event: Round 4 – Fluvanna, TX – April 20, 2008
 
Results

POS.	RIDER	MANUFACT.	NAT.
1	1 Mike Lafferty	KTM
2	2 Russell Bobbitt	KTM
3	Wally Palmer	Kawasaki
4	Cole Kirkpatrick	KTM
5	Jeff Melik	Yamaha

 
Standings

POS.	RIDER	MANUFACT.	NAT.	POINTS
1	1 Mike Lafferty	KTM		81
2	2 Russell Bobbitt	KTM		80
3	Jason Raines	Yamaha		43
4	Cole Kirkpatrick	KTM		42
5	Shane Watts	KTM		33

Two of the championships were won by KTM Factory Junior Team riders Tommy Weeck and Max Anstie. Weeck proved strong all week winning heats in both the Motocross B Modified and Motocross Lites B Modified classes. He eventually wrapped up the Motocross B Modified class when he again finished 1st in the final moto to take home the championship. His teammate, Anstie, also had a great week sweeping both motos of the Supermini (12-15) class to take home the title. Anstie, who hails from Newbury, England, was excited about his first U.S. Championship, ‘I am very happy to win a championship here. I enjoyed the track and actually had fun when it was muddy. It reminded me of home,’ claimed the Supermini champion.
 
Fellow KTM Factory Junior Team rider, Jason Anderson, looked as if he might pick up multiple championships at Lake Whitney after winning the first moto in three of his classes. Unfortunately, the New Mexico native had a hard crash late in the week in which he suffered a minor concussion and was not able to compete in his final motos. Anderson will take a few days off in order to try and compete at the Oak Hill Motocross Nationals this week.
 
The other five championships were as follows
Cullin Park – 51 (4-8) Oil Injected
Cade Moore – 65 (10-11) Modified
Alexander Frye – 65 (10-11) Stock
Jordan Smith – 65 (7-11) Open
Mark Worth – 65 (7-9) Stock
 
Congratulations to all KTM riders for their hard work and weekly effort that brought them to the Lake Whitney Spring Classic and helped them run up front the entire week.

The sandy whooped out course took its toll on a majority of the riders causing many technical failures when sand got in the motor of the machines. One of the casualties was Red Bull KTM rider Justin Soule. Soule had an awesome start rounding the first turn in second. By the end of the first lap he had dropped to third but was still charging hard. He slowly slipped back the next few laps until a technical problem with his bike caused him to not finish the race. ‘I’m bummed to not finish the race today, but it’s always a possibility for something to go wrong when racing. I know my team will get the problem fixed and I’ll have another chance at running up front at the next round,’ commented Soule after the race.
 
Caselli’s day went considerably better although it didn’t start out as great as he would have hoped. Caselli started inside the top ten but a crash on the second lap put him back in 21st position. Once he remounted he tried to pick off riders but couldn’t find his rhythm quick enough. ‘I wasn’t comfortable until after the gas stop. After that halfway mark I finally got in my groove and was able to start moving forward,’ reported Caselli. His gas stop came approximately one hour into the race, at which point, he was able to pick up the pace and finally break back into the top ten. A few laps later on this quick 6 1/2 minute loop he had moved up to 7th. By the end of the race he passed two more riders to take home 5th for the day; an impressive finish for coming from so far back in the pack.
 
‘I believe Kurt made the best of his bad luck today. He had a lot of work to do in order to salvage points and he was able to break into the top five which keeps him right there in the points chase,’ stated Red Bull KTM Off-Road Team Manager Antti Kallonen. He continued, ‘I am happy with his performance.’
 
Next Event: Round 4 April 11-13 – Auburn, WA
 
Results

POS.	RIDER	MANUFACT.	NAT.
1	5 Bobby Garrison	Yamaha
2	7 Ricky Dietrich	Kawasaki
3	32 Damon Huffman	Kawasaki
4	129 Bobby Bonds	Kawasaki
5	1 Kurt Caselli	KTM
DNF	6 Justin Soule’	KTM

 
Standings

POS.	RIDER	MANUFACT.	NAT.	POINTS
1	5 Bobby Garrison	Yamaha		74
2	1 Kurt Caselli	KTM		71
3	7 Ricky Dietrich	Kawasaki		57
4	129 Bobby Bonds	Kawasaki		57
5	9 Kyle Summers	KTM		49
12	6 Justin Soule’	KTM		22