FMF KTM’s Kurt CaselliAMA National Hare & HoundFactory FMF/KTM rider Kurt Caselli, who won two stages at 2013 Dakar Rally, won the third round of the AMA National Hare & Hound Series at Murphy, Idaho, after a come from behind race to victory to score his first win of the 2013 season.
Caselli had trouble starting his bike at the start of the race which put him near the end of the pack off the start. Once sorted, he began to pick through the riders. He spent the first loop coming up through the pack and was able to move into fifth place by the end of the loop approximately one minute behind the lead rider.The two-time National Hare & Hound Champion turned up the heat on the second loop and was able to make impressive passes to move into the lead. Caselli was first to cross the checkers to take home his first win of the season.Kurt Caselli (FMF/KTM) says: “It was a tight race today. I had my work cut out for me after having a bad start. Once I saw them in my sights on the second loop I just set to work to reel them in and was thankful I was able to get around them and collect my first win.”Caselli’s teammate, Ivan Ramirez, used this round of the series to test the new fuel-injected 450 XC-F. “We have plans to begin racing the fuel-injected bike in desert racing and are testing it for any possible issues,” remarked Factory FMF/KTM Team Manager Antti Kallonen. “We feel the Hare & Hound Series is good testing ground for the other desert races we will enter in the future.”Ramirez had a few struggles throughout the day but was able to finish fifteenth overall on the new machine.Next Round: April 13-14, 2013 – Lucerne Valley, Calif.
Hello everyone and welcome once again to the Ultimate Motorcycling podcast—Motos and Friends. My name is Arthur Coldwells.
Motos and Friends is brought to you by the Yamaha YZF-R7—Yamaha’s awesome supersport machine that is as capable on the racetrack as it is on the street. …and it’s comfortable too! Check it out at at your local Yamaha dealer, or of course at YamahaMotorsports.com.
In this week’s first segment, Senior Editor Nic de Sena rides the BMW K 1600 GT. This is the sporty bagger version of BMW’s K series of machines, those are the models with the awesome 6-cylinder engine. The GT has been given a little makeover for 2023, and Nic gives us his take.
In the second segment, I chat with one of my all time heroes—three-time World Champion racer ‘fast’ Freddie Spencer. I’ll do my best not to come off as too much of a fanboy here, but frankly it’ll be tough!
In my humble opinion, Spencer is a contender for the GOAT—greatest of all time. Sure, his career was a little shorter than some, and his number of championships falls behind the likes of Lawson, Doohan, Rossi, and of course Marquez. But at the time, Freddie literally changed the way motorcycles were ridden. 30 years before Marc Marquez, Freddie was able to push the front wheel into a slide, corner after corner, lap after lap in order to get the bike turned faster than anyone else. Freddie took completely different lines and was able to get on the throttle so early he could out accelerate anyone off a corner.
In the modern era, of course Freddie is the chairman of the FIM MotoGP Stewards panel. This is the panel of referees for all three classes of Grand prix racing. I talked to Freddie about his task there, and although for contractual reasons with Dorna and the FIM he cannot talk about specific riders, teams, or events, nevertheless his explanation of the job makes for interesting listening. It’s a tough job, and frankly I wouldn’t want to do it!
At any rate, Freddie’s new book ‘Feel’ is available on Amazon—I’d highly recommend you reading it whether you’re a fan of Freddie or not, even whether you’re into racing or not; every rider has something to learn from his mental approach.
Actually—Ultimate Motorcycling is giving away five copies of the book—signed by Freddie himself—to the first five listeners who contact us with the correct answer to the question: How many national AMA championships did Freddie win, and which years were they?
Please email your answers to producer@ultimatemotorcycling.com and we will contact the winners and send you a signed copy of Feel. Those five winners will be announced on a future episode. Unfortunately for legal reasons this offer is ONLY open to US residents.
So, from all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!
