MDK KTM Teams Finalized

Temecula, CA – KTM is proud to announce the line-up for the newly formed MDK KTM Factory Racing and MDK KTM Lites Teams.

Debuting on a KTM for the first time in his career is MDK KTM Factory Team rider Nick Wey who will be competing aboard the 450SX-F machine. His teammate, returning for his second year with KTM, on the 250SX-F is Ecuador’s Martin Davalos. 

The MDK KTM Lites Team has an impressive line up including riders Justin Brayton, Matt Goerke, Ryan Sipes and Billy Laninovich. Each rider on the MDK KTM Lites Team has committed to the team through the 2009 season by signing a two-year contract.

KTM North America, Inc. and MDK Racing, LLC announced their partnership to formulate the two teams earlier on in the Motocross season. It has been determined that the Factory team of Wey and Davalos will operate from the KTM facility while the Lites Team will run out of the MDK facility. Both race shops are located in Murrieta, CA which gives the teams the advantage and convenience of being able to work close together.

Two-time AMA Motocross Champion, Steve Lamson, will serve as Team Manager for the MDK KTM Factory Racing Team while MDK Racing’s Director of Racing Operations, Danny Paladino, will take on the Team Manager role for the MDK KTM Lites Team. The 2000 Phoenix Supercross winner and 2007 RedBull KTM Team Manager, Casey Lytle, will serve as KTM Team Motocross Manager overseeing the operations and daily activities of both teams.

Wey, who has been with MDK Racing since 2005, is excited about MDK’s collaboration with KTM.  Recently recovering from an injury, Wey has just begun to test his new ride. “I really like the motor; the KTM 450SX-F is smooth and fast,” Wey reports after a day of testing. Wey’s first race aboard the KTM will be the Anaheim opener in January 2008.

Davalos, who just returned from the Motocross of Nations where he competed as part of the three-member Ecuador team, is home at his practice track busily preparing for the SX season where he will compete for the East Coast Lites Championship.  Joining him for the fight over the East Coast Lites Championship will be MDK KTM Lites riders Ryan Sipes and Matt Goerke. 

Justin Brayton and Billy Laninovich are suited up to race the West Coast Lites Series. However, both riders are eager to get back into the racing action much sooner, and have thus, decided to compete in the 2007 US Open on October 12-13, 2007 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV.

“We at KTM are excited with our 2008 teams as we feel all the riders are very talented and have shown their ability to be podium contenders,” states KTM’s Director of Racing Kurt Nicoll. He continues, “MDK and KTM make a strong partnership and the emphasis will be on the six riders working together as a team to allow them to reach their full potential.”