Maria Forsberg Announces Retirement

October 17, 2013, 9:30am

From KTM:

Murrieta, CA – Factory FMF/KTM off-road racer Maria Forsberg announced today that she will retire from racing at the end of the 2013 season.

Forsberg, the most-winningest off-road female racer, has had a remarkable career. Over the past 10 years racing for KTM, she has collected 9 National Championships and 3 X-Games Gold Medals.

Forsberg started her racing career in the WORCS Series where she went on to earn 4 Championships in the Women’s class before moving to the east-coast based GNCC Series. She found equal success at the new series eventually putting together a perfect season to win her third championship in 2012 undefeated in the Women’s class. Last weekend, she wrapped up her fourth consecutive championship in the series one round early. On top of her WORCS and GNCC success, she is also a 2-time ISDE Gold Medalist, 3-time X-Games Women’s EnduroX Gold Medalist and the reigning AMA EnduroCross Women’s class Champion.

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Three years ago, she made history when she became the first official factory-supported female off-road racer moving from KTM support team RPM/KTM to the factory racing rig. That same year she received the AMA Racing Female Athlete of the Year award and became the first female rider to win X-Games Gold in EnduroX. In 2012, she won her first overall in the morning class at the GNCC, a feat she has since repeated multiple times.

Every year of her career she has been challenged by more women joining the field and she has never disappointed her team and has won each championship she set out to get. “Maria is a great ambassador for our sport and has elevated women’s racing in the off-road community,” stated Factory FMF/KTM Team Manager Antti Kallonen. “We are happy that KTM has been able to support her through her racing career and we will definitely continue our relationship with her in the future. She will always be a part of the family.”

Forsberg commented, “I truly believe I have been given the opportunity of a lifetime to race with KTM. I can honestly say that KTM made my dreams turn into reality. I can never explain in words what the relationship and support has meant to me. I am very thankful and hope to continue my ties with the company in the future. I might not be racing full-time, but I will always ride.”