After the Spain race during his podium interview, AC222 seemed to indicate he's on a 450...Does anyone know the story here? Here's the interview ..Skip to the 8 minute mark ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=483&v=YATT9mUhkQk Tony seems a little uneasy with the 4fitty question ... He has tossed the 350 .... I'm knocked over to say the least ...
Please excuse me, but I gotta ride this horse ... Angle 1: The 3fitty has ruled with AC222 on board for how long (6-7 yrs?) till ...till ... till ... That's right .. A Husqvarna 4fitty arrived ... There has gotta been some in-house tongue wagging going on between the ktm and Husky guys ... Just what was predicted by 1 here and exactly what some of us want to happen ... AC222 knows his work is cut out the rest of the way .... -- Don't get too close kiddies but that is the 450 Husqvarna branded bike with Maximilian "Max" Nagl (born August 7, 1987 in Weilheim) on-board that forced the parking of the ktm 350 ... Max, my hat is off to you and I'll remember this Husqvarna studded moment even if no one else does .. Notice the clutch lever play ... no rekluse needed for this 350KtmKiller. Going out on a thick limb here and I'm guessing that 'Max' move is made on the track, during a real race and not a photo OP for a magazine shoot.
Yes he chose to ride the 450SX for the Spanish round. I like that red plate special on the white bike.
I was totally clueless on what happens over there ... From what I've gathered , Max is a slight surprise but he has made a mark over there before ... AC222 said he practiced on the 450 and almost started the season with it ... And he actually said he thought the 350 was at a like disadvantage on some tracks ... The way they race, I don't think he is too old to win it all again this year... There is alot of racing to go yet ... What's so great about a SX model? I know they change their bikes plenty but they still start with a base model ...
that's just the model designation of the MX racing 4 stroke bikes for MX1 350SXF and 450SXF for MX2 250SXF or now they refer to MXGP instead of MX1
Cairoli had the option to ride Max' 450 for the last 3-4 years and he still chose the 350. Max in on the husky version of the 2015 450sx. Cairoli changed to the 2016 KTM 450sx. I'm guessing he switched because he thought the new 450 is better than the old 450, or the old 350.
So Colo you see this as a rest of the season change for Tony? I assumed it was a one off thing but I see that logic with the all new 450SX being as it is and all the changes made it into an entirely new machine for all intents and purposes. Note too in most FIM offroad series the teams will start racing the homologated new years models @ halfway through the season, see world enduro they have done that for many years.
If AC goes on a winning stretch for the next few races, I'm not gonna be surprised ... Plus RV2 is coming back? He's got nothing to do now but win races also ... Not gonna do any math now but Max has got a lead 30 points over him? Add all that up and AC needs to win often and Max has gotten be shoved out of the top 5? .... Not sure that is gonna happen ....
He talks about switching to the 450 after both the qualifier and the last moto, sounds like it's necessary for him to keep up. I think in both interviews he says something about the "tracks" being faster Go Max Go!
That was a weird interview ... Maybe he'll go back to a 3fitty ... if not, 0 wins(?) on that bike in his last yr on it ... We can't race a season twice but the guy in 1st is in the same ~camp as him ... The direct result of his KTM huncho buying a second brand of bike for racing against him .... Without Max on the Husky, maybe the championship hole he's in is only 1\2 as deep ... SP is a juggernaut till further notice ... -- MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 259 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 247 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 229 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 208 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 196 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 171 p.; 7. Ryan Villopoto (USA, KAW), 124 p.; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 114 p.; 9. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 104 p.; 10. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KAW), 95 p
I'm not even going to pretend to know what he might ride for the rest of the season. I mean, he's Antonio Cairoli, he could win on a solar powered unicycle given the right situation. But I wouldn't be surprised to see him stay on the 450 for the rest of the season. Maybe go back to a 350 if they release a new model and it is much better than the current 350. Who knows. Trying to predict a MX season is like predicting the weather. Even the experts are just guessing most of the time.
The announcers seem to say after the second moto of the MXGP of Britain, that he's on the 4fitty ... World is back balanced with the extra 100cc riders putting the lesser 100cc bike back on the trails ... Just try to image a smoother transition of the 350cc machines into the world today of riding and racing and back out... It was impossible for it to whip 450s on the track ...Yet it did... Now it's out apparently without a blackeye.. SP is a juggernaut till further notice ...
And in the interview after the qualifier he talks about the 450 too: View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9vD_TUjMCs
And in the interview after the qualifier he talks about the 450 too View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9vD_TUjMCs
The 450 is a new bike to him on some level ... and he wins on it makes it look like business as usual ...Those guys were logging some serious airtime over some of those jumps ... Don't know any sales numbers but I'd guess that after all the good press their 350 has gotten and results on the track and trail, that size bike is here to stay for them at least for the foreseeable future.
KTM is publicly traded so the numbers are out there I'd guess but I never can find them ... Jargon like below is what I usually find ... KTM Reports Earnings Results for the Fiscal Year 2015 May 22 15 KTM reported earnings results for the fiscal year 2015. The company's motorcycle sales grew 28% to 0.158 million units during 2014 with turnover growing at 21% to EUR 864.6 million and PAT at EUR 57.2 million, growth of 57%.
The annual report on their website breaks it down by bike type but nothing model specific. Magazine's are always saying 350's and 300's are top sellers. Would be nice to see per model.
