David Knight Report
Red Bull KTM Off Road Race Team

Knighter wins Indoor Enduro World Cup round two in Munich

Red Bull KTM Off Road Race Team rider David Knight has put the disappointment of failing to finish this year’s Red Bull Last Man Standing event in Texas through illness behind him having topped the second round of the ’07 FIM Indoor Enduro World Cup staged in Munich. Claiming two wins and a runner-up result at the championship’s opening event in Barcelona two weeks ago, Knight claimed the exact same result in Munich to take his second IEWC victory and importantly extend his lead in the championship standings. Finishing behind David in Munich was his team-mate Taddy Blazusiak and Finn Mika Ahola.
 
Not knowing how he would feel competing again just one week after breathing problems saw him retire from the LMS event, Knight claimed the fastest time during the events timed qualifying sessions and from there never looked back. Comfortably winning both of his qualifying races David took to the start of the first of the three finals as favourite to win and despite a less than perfect start did just that. Forced to work his way passed several riders during the opening lap once out front David opened up a commanding lead and claimed a deserved win as many of his closest rivals struggled with certain sections of the demanding Munch track.
 
Race two was a similar one for Knight. Failing to repeat the lightning fast starts that saw him holeshot nearly every race he was in during the Barcelona championship opener, David again worked his way forward and having positioned himself at the front of the field ensured he did exactly what he needed to do to claim his second consecutive win of the night. Knowing that he didn’t need to win the third and final race David opted for a safe second in race three as team-mate Blazusiak claimed the win. Happy to sit behind his team-mate David fought off the advances of Mika Ahola to claim second and in doing so earned himself the overall win as well as moving further ahead in the Indoor Enduro World Cup series standings.
 
David Knight: “It’s been a great evening. I won my heats easy enough and then I won the first of the three finals comfortably, which set me up well for the night. It was always my plan to get the hard work done early on and then I would be able to take it a bit easier towards the end of the night. Although I won the first race I didn’t get a great start but I was pretty aggressive early on and made some good passes to move into the lead quite quickly. I pulled away a bit then and held a good gap over Taddy.
        
“The second race was pretty much the same really. I worked my way to the front, which took the pressure off me in the third final. I knew that if I could win the first two then I’d win the overall with a half decent result in the last race.
        
“I took it carefully off the start and then wasn’t as aggressive in the opening laps as I was in the other finals. I worked my way up to second and then just held my position. Mika Ahola was riding well so I had to keep a pretty decent pace going.
        
“I got the same result as I did in Barcelona and have taken the same championship points, which is great. I have a bit of a lead in the championship with just the last round in Genoa to go. I felt like I rode pretty good all evening.

“The track was really good, especially when you consider it’s the first time they’ve built an indoor enduro track in Munich.
        
“It’s important to me to try and win this Indoor Enduro World Cup. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do all the rounds next year so to win this championship, as well as having won the Endurocross series, would be great.”
 
Results – ’07 FIM Indoor Enduro World Cup, Round 2, Munich, Germany
 
1. David Knight (Red Bull KTM Off Road Race Team) 42 points
2. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) 39
3. Mika Ahola (Honda) 27
4. Markus Kehr (KTM) 26
5. Xavi Galindo (KTM) 17
6. Gregory Eyries (Yamaha) 15
7. Thomas Oldrati (KTM) 14
8. Tom Sagar (KTM) 11
9. Simone Albergoni (Yamaha) 8
10. Andreas Lettenbichler (BMW) 5
11. Johnny Aubert (Yamaha) 3

The podium in Munich

Team KTM Report
David Knight Takes Round Two of Enduro World Cup

The mighty Knighter was back on his KTM and in exemplary form to dominate the second round of the 2007 FIM Indoor Enduro World Cup held in the Olympic Stadium Munich at the weekend.

KTM's newest factory rider Taddy Blazusiak (Poland) was close behind in second place, rounding off an excellent weekend for the Austrian manufacturer.
 
Riding for the Red Bull KTM Offroad Race Team, Knight, the newly crowned AMA Endurocross champion, had fully recovered from the illness that forced him to withdraw recently from the Red Bull Last Man Standing in Texas. In fact the Isle of Man rider re-emerged stronger than ever in Munich.
 
As sharp as he was in round One of the competition in Barcelona, Spain, Knighter went out fighting and again finished the event with two wins and a runner-up result to extend his lead in the overall standings. Knight threw down the gauntlet by being fastest in the timed qualifying sessions. His start in the first of the three rounds was not perfect but he worked his way past several riders in the opening lap and once he hit the front he took a commanding lead. He successfully repeated the same tactics in race two and settled for a safe second place in the final race, won by team-mate Blazusiak, the winner of the 2007 Last Man Standing.
 
David admitted it had been a great evening and everything had gone according to plan. "It was always my plan to get the hard work done early on and then I would be able to take it a bit easier towards the end of the night. Although I won the first race I didn't get a great start but I was pretty aggressive early on and made some good passes to move into the lead quite quickly. I pulled away a bit then and held a good gap over Taddy." He said similar tactics in the second race had removed the pressure. "I knew that if I could win the first two then I'd win the overall with a half decent result in the last race," he added.
 
The final round of the event will take place in Genoa, an occasion where Knighter aspires to add the Indoor Enduro World Cup title to his significant trophy collection.


BMW Motorrad Motorsport Report
Andreas Lettenbichler: in his second indoor enduro already in the finals.

Andreas Lettenbichler ensured that ’07 drew to a close in a very positive way for the BMW Motorrad Motorsport team as he qualified for the finals at the second round of the Indoor Enduro World Cup, the Munich Indoor Enduro, aboard the new 450 sports enduro bike. With Andreas having only competed in his first ever indoor enduro event two weeks prior to the Munich race, having learned much about what is needed to succeed in the challenging sport he managed to squeeze his way through one of the two LCQ races and into the finals after several mistakes prevented him scoring enough points to move through into the finals via the qualifying races.

Once in the finals it was simply a case of doing the best he could and despite having much less experience than many of his rivals Andreas proved himself to be considerably more competitive than he was in Spain two weeks earlier. Helped by lightning fast starts aboard his 450cc BMW, Andreas found himself caught out by the difficult Munich track once too often in the first race and ended up eight. Race two started in the best possible way as another great start was followed by Andreas leading the race for two full laps while those behind him struggled to mount a serious challenge for the lead. Once again mistakes spoiled what could have been an extremely positive result. The third race went much the same way as the first as the mixture of close competition and the demanding track resulted in Andreas falling, getting stuck in one of the difficult rock sections as well as making several other mistakes, like most all of the 11 riders in the final. Despite not claiming a result as high as he would have liked Andreas was thrilled simply to have made the finals, especially considering the high number of experienced WEC riders that failed to make the grade.

Also competing for the BMW Motorrad Motorsport team was Belgian Jean-Francois Goblet. Performing well during the timed qualifying sessions Goblet found that luck simply wasn’t on his side and failed to make it through into the finals. Travelling to Munich to support his team-mates was new BMW Motorrad Motorsport rider Anders Eriksson.

Andreas Lettenbichler: “I was able to spent a lot more time on the bike before this race than I did before the Barcelona indoor enduro, and I think I showed that. I felt much more comfortable on the bike and had a great night. My qualifying races didn’t go so well so I had to win my LCQ race to get into the final, which I managed to do. I could see Bartosz Oblucki ahead of me, a long, long way ahead, and I just kept pushing as hard as I could. He made some mistakes and I managed to pass him just before the finish.

“The three finals were extremely tough. I was just pleased to be there because it gave me a great opportunity to spend more time in indoor enduro competition. I learned so much from the final, but like I said it was tough. The second race was the best one for me. I was getting great starts all evening and I lead the second race for two laps, which was great. I knew I had some really fast guys behind me but I didn’t make any mistakes for two laps and I was able to stay ahead of them. But then I made a mistake, started to get a little bit tired, and dropped back. The third race was a bit like the first where I made too many mistakes to get a really good result. I had a great time and this is still only my second indoor enduro so I am really pleased I was able to qualify and lead for some laps.”

Wolfgang Fischer (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Team Manager): “It’s been a huge step forward for the riders and the team since Barcelona. With more time on the bikes training I think that the riders showed that they are getting faster. In qualifying they were fourth and fifth times, which was great. The track was pretty tough and all of our riders suffered a little but they got some great starts. Having Andreas in the final was a great end to the end of the year. The riders and technicians know what they need to do during the off-season so we are all looking forward to the start of next season.”