KTM wants to make MX2 even better for 2018
The 2017 FIM MX2 World Championship was largely defined by the sight of the Red Bull KTMs of Pauls Jonass and Jorge Prado battling for the holeshot every week. Thanks to Jonass, the KTM factory team will use the 'No.' for the seventh time in fourteen years. 1 plate in the MX2 round…
What should worry KTM's competitors is the fact that they have squeezed even more power out of the potent 2018 SX-F engine for 250. “There are competitors with new engines and we would like to stay ahead of them, especially in MX2,” says MX2 Team Manager and general technical coordinator Dirk Gruebel. “We did our homework and we found a little more horsepower… And that always helps at the start! The riders are already happy. It's a makeover and the driving behavior is a bit different, but the boys love it. That gives us confidence that we are on the right track.”
The team will once again rely on their Latvian star Jonass and Spanish teenager Prado. The duo was good for no fewer than nine GP victories and twenty podiums in 2017. This made Red Bull-KTM clearly the strongest formation as a team.
“We also had a title in MX2016 last year (2) but that was what people expected with Jeffrey [Herlings],” says Gruebel. “Pauls started the year strongly, but he struggled in the middle of the season. Ultimately he finished the job. I think the level in MX2 dropped a bit because Jeffrey was gone. This made it more equal, which in turn led to better races. Jeremy Seewer, (ed. the MX2 vice world champion) did well. He challenged Pauls to the end. On our part it was therefore a matter of continuing hard during the winter. So actually nothing has changed.”
“The change with Marc came as a surprise to us, but that is his own choice,” Gruebel notes. “He chooses who trains him. Jonass and De Reuver were a great team and what they had done in preparation and training was fantastic. Perhaps Pauls has now learned something on his own and is also evolving as a person. He will soon be 21. As soon as he is on the court he gives 100% and he always gives 100%. The competition will be tough next year… Even within the team.”
Photos: Ray Archer
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