The KTM Enduro Factory Team started the eight-round 2006 World Enduro Championship in fine style with team riders David Knight and Samuli Aro claiming top honours in the Enduro 3 and Enduro 2 classes respectively on day one of the season opener. In the Enduro 1 class reigning world champion Ivan Cervantes ended day one in the runner-up spot after two falls on the enduro test dropped him behind Finn Petri Pohjamo.

With conditions in Ostersund, Sweden much warmer than expected the WEC’s first ever winter enduro turned out to be a lot less difficult than the majority of the teams and riders were expecting. With rain falling as the first riders left the start, clear skies and plus five degree temperatures during the day resulted in much of the snow on the enduro and motocross tests melting, leaving unseasonally wet conditions in many places.

Jay Marmont is now Red Bull KTM’s sole East Coast Supercross rider as Josh Hansen must sit out for the remainder of the season due to a plaguing back injury and young Jeff Alessi is still recuperating from two broken ankles. KTM wishes to see both riders out on the track only when they are 100% healed and healthy.

Jay Marmont began his night with a 7th place finish in the first Lites Heat race, advancing him to the main.

In the main, Marmont had a midpack start and finished the 15-lap race in 12th position.

AMA Amp’d Mobile Supercross Lites results, Orlando, FL

1. Josh Grant

By definition, no privateer’s season is complete without generous amounts of bad luck. As everyone at Unbound Energy/Moto XXX knows, teams are not exempt from it either. The tenth year squad definitely hit a rough patch in Indianapolis last weekend, but all was definitely not lost.

Timmy Ferry’s performance was the highlight of the weekend. At one point in practice, he had the 7th fastest lap time and felt confident going into the evening program. Once the lights came on, “Red Dog

Christensens Motorcycles Yamaha rider Blake Hore has opened his 2006 Yamaha
Victorian Off Road Championship campaign on a solid footing with a third
overall at the opening round in Ballarat last weekend.

With the Ballarat Rovers Motorcycle Club setting out a tough first class
course for the Sprint event Blake was full of optimism as the day got
underway. With the lack rain in the area riders where placed a minute apart
which only allowed for 3 runs for the day, ensuing the competition would be
close.

"My first run went really well and I surprised myself by finishing first 1.6
seconds in front of Jehi Willis," Blake said.

Rinaldi Yamaha rider Stefan Everts claimed his third victory in four weeks after winning both MX1 heats of the Hawkstone Park International in Shropshire, England.

The nine times World Champion dominated the first of two heats in bright and sunny but cold conditions. A packed crowd attended one of the more prestigious pre-season events of the winter calendar and the dark Hawkstone sand was in its usual rough and demanding state. The circuit is dwarfed by the large hill section that sees the riders climb a near-vertical 100m slope and the gradient caught out a number of top riders as the International once again boasted an array of Grand Prix stars.

The reigning British Champion looked fit, fast and assured over the rough English sand, under some winter sunshine in low temperatures. A large crowd travelled to the renowned pre-season meeting in Shropshire, just west of the city of Birmingham.

Nunn blasted away from main rival Billy Mackenzieand young Kawasakirider Tommy Searle to win the first moto of 25 minutes and 2 laps and then took a steady 2nd position later in the day to confirm the overall victory. In the last race of the meeting, the ‘Grand Final’ between the best classified riders of MX1 and MX2, Nunn was holding a top six position before he crashed on the long, steep hill section and struggled to restart his machine. He did however manage to complete the race and was ranked 6th from the MX2 group.

The opening round of Italian Enduro Champs was held in linguaglossa, Sicily at the base of Europe’s largest active volcano, Mt Etna. Heavy rain leading up to the race left most of the track very wet and muddy, however the riders were fortunate that sun prevailed on the day of the race. For this race there was two enduro tests, one cross test and one extreme test. The cross test was mostly on a flat paddock that was very wet as all the springs from the mountain drained out onto it. On the first days there were some big mudholes in the cross test, and almost every rider got stuck at one point or another. On the first day the riders completed four laps of the 45 km course, the enduro and extreme tests are not timed on the first lap. The enduro tests were had a base of hard volcanic rock but were very muddy due to the rain.

AURORA, Ill. (March 2, 2006) – The culmination of an 19-year supercross/motocross career will unfold for Honda’s Mike LaRocco at Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Saturday, May 6. Announced today during the pre-race press conference at Indianapolis’ RCA Dome, LaRocco stated, “I’ve had a long, great career in motocross and supercross, but it’s time to call it quits. Unless you are winning, it’s hard to keep racing.

Rinaldi Yamaha rider Stefan Everts clinched his second victory of the 2006 pre-season motocross period last weekend with a comprehensive display at the Pernes Les Fontaines International meeting in France.

Under sunny skies and good racing conditions the nine times world champion and factory Yamaha star claimed both MX1 motos onboard his 2006 spec YZ450FM, defeating a number of his world championship peers including Honda's Josh Coppins, KTM's Mickael Pichon and Sebastien Tortelli and Suzuki's Steve Ramon.

The 33 year old has won the MX1 World Championship for the last two seasons and will be pushing for a tenth career title in his final Grand Prix campaign this term. Everts hole-shotted the first race and kept a healthy distance over Coppins. The Belgian was forced to hold off Pichon in the second moto and also overtook Coppins who had started very quickly. A battle raged until the flag with Everts able to defeat the 2005 MX1 runner-up by less than three seconds at the finish.

Juha Salminen shook up the Grand National Cross Country circuit in 2005 and won an astonishing 9 of the 13 GNCC rounds, taking home his first American Off-Road Championship title.

Following in history’s footsteps, champions are always given the prestige of running the number one plate the following year to contest and defend their title.

After careful consideration, 10-time World Enduro Champion, Juha Salminen has decided to race the 2006 GNCC series with 111 instead of the number 1 plate. He explained, “For me, the number one plate is something that I earned last year because my team and I worked hard for it. I respect the history and the distinction that comes with it, but the team and I thought that since I am in America racing for such a short time that we would like for fans to associate me with the 111. In fact, we are not ignoring the number 1 at all, just be sure to look at the middle one, it’s larger than the other two numbers.