Clean - In Hand on 2040-motos

Moto blog

KTM Announces 2013 Factory Team, Bids Farewell to Cyril Despres

(ED: Updated with a message from Cyril Despres.) KTM introduced its 2013 Rally Racing team while bidding farewell to five-time Dakar Rally winner Cyril Despres. Despres won all five of his Dakar victories with KTM, winning in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2013. He leaves the team to pursue a new challenge, with Honda rumored to be seeking his services for its newly-revived rally racing program.

Bajaj Auto Owns 25% of KTM

In India, Bajaj Auto is a major player in two and three-wheeled vehicles. They originally purchased a 14.5 percent stake in KTM last year, which was increased to 20.9 percent earlier this year and has now officially reached 25 percent. The companies have been working together to develop high-efficiency bikes, sourcing for production and the assembling of KTM bikes in India for export to Europe under KTM branding.

AMA Pro Racing Announces Basic Twins Flat Track Class for 2014 Season

AMA Pro Racing announced a new class for Flat Track racing designed to provide a new stepping stone for up-and-coming Pro-licensed racers, replacing the Pro Singles class in 2014. The new class, to be called Basic Twins, is more or less a revival of the Basic Expert Twins division that ran during the 2007 and 2008 seasons, but dropped when the Pro Singles class was introduced for 2009. The new class will give young racers a chance to showcase their skills on Twins, easing their transition to eventually enter the Grand National Expert Twins class.