Factory Racer For A Day

Although I don't draw the kind of attention at the starting line as Adam McGill or Taylor Kiser, I must say that it was pretty cool to be visited by a few of the ATV race world's celebrities, such as Marc Baldwin, Sam Shahan (Tim Farr's faithful mechanic) and even my good buddy Richie Brown, who also races on a KTM in the Pro-Am class. It's funny, but I actually felt a little of what these pro guys must feel, even a stomach crammed full of those dreadful butterflies.

Well, the time to take on this challenge had finally arrived as the announcer screamed, "10 seconds!" Man, that was probably the longest 10 seconds of my life, and I realized there was no turning back now. It was on! The flag dropped and as soon as my thumb made contact with the start button, the KTM barked to life with a mild roar and I popped off the line in great shape. That first 100 yards was going incredibly well; it was looking as if I would round the first turn in fifth or so place. Well, that is until one of the guys in front of me somehow spun out and brought my race to a complete stop only 100 yards into the race. Needless to say, just about everyone in my class was able to round the first turn in front of me before this guy was able to get turned back around and out of my way. Oh well, it is what it is.

After breaking free from my first-turn fiasco, I was actually able to take back about half of my class before hitting the single-track woods section only a mile or so into the race. Running about mid-pack, the pace was kept pretty fast except for the occasional bottlenecks that occurred. Being that I was extremely familiar with the performance of the '08 KTM, I was quickly realizing just how much improved the '09 model actually was. I have to admit, I really didn't believe it was going to be this much better, but indeed it was. As I hit the field sections, I just hammered down, the front end lifted and the crisp overwhelming power allowed me to easily catch up with the lead pack's stragglers and put me within the grasp of the frontrunners. As we reentered the tight wooded sections, I was extremely impressed with this motor's ability to lunge me effortlessly up and over the top of these steep, rutted-out hillclimbs. I found it easy to keep good momentum by running a gear high and allowing this 450cc engine to lug around in the woods without expending extra unwanted energy. I was just completely impressed with the overall package.

But as I continued on in my race with a massive smile on my face, I began remembering that KTM made no specific mods to the motor in 2009. That's when it hit me as to how much of a difference the suspension modifications were actually making in allowing the rear tires to grip and pull. For 2009, KTM changed 13 components within the shocks, which allowed for a lower extended height and lower compressed height all while increasing the shaft travel in the rear. In layman terms, the power is getting to the ground better than it had on the '08 model, which made the motor feel as if it were outputting more power.