Now in the countdown to the start of the official calendar of events team boss Fabio Farioli reports that the pre-season preparation has been excellent and he is looking forward to a positive racing season in 2011.
“We are very positive about the 2011 Enduro bikes and our riders can hardly wait to get out on the track and tackle the competition,” he said.
Following on from a successful 2010 season Farioli believes the team has entered a new era with the new generation bikes and the current lineup of riders. After completing intensive pre-season training, including a joint session in Spain at Stefan Everts’ special facility together with the MX riders of the Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing Team, the Enduro riders are looking forward to getting some competition practice under their wheels before the official start of the World Championship GP season on April 1-2, 2011.
The factory lineup shows great promise for the 2011 season and will have the first chance to test themselves on the track and against rivals during the Italian National Championships next weekend in two races on the island of Sardinia (March 12-13) and a further race in Turin, Italy on the following weekend. The only rider who will not compete in these events will be David Knight who has been training in Spain and in the USA.
Fabio Farioli: “2010 was good to us. We won one of the top titles and we had all the riders on the podium. Now this year, like every year, we start with the aim of winning all the titles. I am very hopeful about our prospects and this includes our two young riders, Thomas Oldrati and Cristobal Guerrero who both have the potential to be on the podium.”
Eero Remes of Finland and Italian Thomas Oldrati are contesting the E1 class on the 250 EXC, Johnny Aubert of France and Cristobal Guerrero of Spain will ride in the E2 class on the revolutionary new 350 EXC-F bike while David Knight will contest the E3 class on the KTM 500 cc 4-stroke. He will be joined in this class for the first three events in Spain, Portugal and France by KTM’s extreme Endurist Taddy Blazusiak of Poland who will ride the 300cc 2-stroke machine.
The team also has a lineup of riders skilled on many surfaces and terrains. David Knight excels on very rough and difficult terrain, Johnny Aubert is a great specialist on grass and slippery surfaces, Eero Remes likes sandy surfaces and is incredibly fast in the MX tests. Cristobal Guerrero shines on extremely hard surfaces like those in his native Spain and Thomas Oldrati is most at home in the typical extreme tests that are characteristic of the terrain around his hometown of Bergamo in the very heartland of Enduro in Italy. And as followers of the sport already know, Taddy Blazusiak is fearless on virtually any terrain.
Both riders and team manager are also enthusiastic about the new generation of bikes. “We’ve made a real step into the future,” Farioli said. “I can say that we have already reached the next level!”
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Farioli also said that the 2011 WEC World Championship calendar offered a great range of terrain. The season starts on the Iberian Peninsula with rounds in Spain and Portugal then heads south to Italy, turkey and Greece. The calendar continues for two new events in Romania and Andorra before heading for the finale in France.
World Championship Enduro Calendar 2011 season
2-3 April, 2011 Ponts, Spain
9-10 April, 2011 Figueira Da Foz, Portugal
14-15 May, 2011 Francavilla De Sicilia, Italy
11-12 June, 2011 Fethiye, Turkey
18-19 June, 2011, Kalampaka Meteora, Greece
9-10 July, 2011 Buzau, Romania
3-4 September, 2011 Andorra,
1-2 October, 2011 Mende France
Find the latest pictures of the team shooting in spain here:
http://www.ktmimages.com/browse/images/1838
