Andrew Short's Factory KTM 350 SX-F
Words/Photos: Scott Hoffman

As long as I can remember, KTM has bounced in and out of the premier class (what I used to call the 250) which is now called the 450 class in supercross. Names like former Factory KTM rider Cliff Palmer start to pop up, yet who can forget about Lance Smail, who became the first rider to put a four-stroke into the main event back in 1997. He was aboard a 540cc Katoom built by Tom Moen.

Back in the day, KTM was all about the big-bore valve pushers, yet that was then and now the name of the game for supercross, for KTM, is 350cc. Both Andrew Short and Mike Alessi ride Factory KTM-built 350cc race bikes full-time under the watchful eye of Roger Decoster. In addition to the full-time riders, Ken Roczen has also put a 350 into the main event as well as Ty Simmonds and Dan Reardon.

Today, KTM is no longer an outsider and is considered a major player in both supercross and outdoor motocross, yet the premier supercross main event victory still evades them. The new fuel-injected machines draw a lot of attention because they look trick but kind of buck the traditional system of not being a 250 or a 450cc machine but rather a hybrid designed to run with 450s. Here is a quick look into the Factory KTM 350 supercross machines.

-KTM doesn't hold back when it comes to their pits. The look is very similar to what you might see at a World Grand Prix event. What stands out most on the Factory KTM 350s is the bold orange frame. Only a few select limited-edition production bikes are available with the orange frame, the standard 350 frame is black. Don't forget to check out the ultra-trick Akrapovic titanium bike stands.


-Works WP shocks offer separate high- and low-speed compression circuits. Note the shock bolt up top looks very stock and is not a full Ti unit which you might expect.


-Not a lot of fancy exotic material on the engine covers but rather more like a polished unit. Like most teams, Hinson takes care of the clutch components. A trick carbon fiber skid plate protects the frame as well as the engine and water pump.


-We noticed this last year that Xrig pretty much owns World GP and we spotted most of the World Factory bikes running the Xtrig brand with a Works fork. KTM runs the same or similar units that the European team runs. Xtrig is now available in the United States through Technical Touch USA.


-The team does not run full Works hubs with regard to their wheels but rather Kite, which is a European company. The bearing and axle size might be a special diameter to match up with the Works WP fork lower lugs.


-Every bike in the supercross pit has one, some sort of fork locking device for starts.

-These are some burly titanium footpegs mounted to the factory beast. A company out of the UK called Raptor Titanium makes these units.

-Works or kit Brembo brakes stop this machine on a dime. Other components appear to be available to the public, including KTM brand accessory rotors, DID rims, DID chain. Yet you can also see high-dollar titanium hardware scattered throughout the chassis and engine.

-Full titanium Akrapovic exhaust keeps the note within the AMA/FIM limits yet it still sounds very healthy.


-The linkage on Alessi's machine appears production yet we have heard they had been testing links or at least different length wishbones.

One race ago, defending champ Ryan Dungey of the Rockstar/Makita Suzuki team finished last and scored only on point because of a derailed chain - which Trey Canard is taking responsibility for. Canard says a few turns before the derailed chain, he hit Dungey's bike in the left rear.
Ryan Dungey (1) and Trey Canard (41) get off the gate in their heat race. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

Still, Dungey seemed to be out of the title, 38 points behind points leader James Stewart. One race later, he's only 22 points behind Stewart, and 31 behind new points leader Ryan Villopoto.

So, while he still has a long way to go, this sequence of events should be enough for anyone to realize that absolutely nobody in the top five in points is "out of" this championship. Anything can and will happen. Just like it did in Houston, and at Anaheim 2 before that.

That being said, Dungey was within a hair of being three points closer to Stewart and Villopoto, as on the last lap, he got to the inside of Canard heading up to the checkered flag, and Canard smartly squeezed Dungey off to take his first-ever 450cc SX win.

Canard Is A Streaker

The danger now is that Canard has put together one race (with a lot of help, admittedly), after his two worst finishes of the season. He was very upset during the week, just like he was last year during the AMA Nationals after the Colorado National. Remember what happened next?

He won RedBud - his first ever - and then a handful more on his way to the title.

And remember last year when Canard was just messing around in the 450cc class on Andrew Short's factory Honda? One podium, and then he started streaking - to five in a row before moving back down to the Lites class. This is a guy who, when he gets hot, is hard to stop. Of course, he wasn't racing against Stewart, Reed, Villopoto and Dungey outdoors last year (although he was racing against the latter two indoors). It's not quite the same, but they'd better watch out regardless. Trey Canard is no joke once he starts a snowball rolling.

Patience Is Key

Another thing that we should pay attention to is that James Stewart was not the normal, patient Stewart at Houston that he has been most of the rest of this year. I don't think it's because he was afraid of losing points. I think what happened is he had such a dominant race at Anaheim 2 last weekend that he simply believed he was "on" and could do just about anything he wanted. And it bit him early in the main when he jumped into Jason Thomas in the track's main rhythm section. The result was a damaged front brake that was causing his front wheel to stop spinning in the air, and for JT Money, it was the end of his night. JT has a torn ACL, so he'll be out a while.
James Stewart had a lapse of judgment in the main event. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

A lot of this carnage could've been avoided if the track were more rider-friendly, or racing-friendly. The first turn was very reminiscent of the one in Dallas last year that claimed well over half of the Lites main-event field, and it claimed a big chunk of both fields at the start of both mains this weekend. And the dirt was very, very dry and very, very slick.

Windham's Woes

You know dirt is slick when the king of throttle control - Kevin Windham - wads it up because he spun too much in a rhythm section. And that's what happened with K-Dub. When I saw him after the race, he looked beat up, and he was a bit high on pain meds, so he was loopy. But he came up short on a jump from the top of one table to the next, and when he landed, he got hard on the gas to still get over the next jump after the table, and just spun. The bike went sideways, he was tossed off, and the bike drilled him.

This was Kevin Windham's race to win, and he would've 99 out of 100 other times. He was checked out, and even though Canard was eating into his lead, I don't think he would've caught K-Dub. Not on this night. It was the halfway point when he went down and Canard wasn't making up enough time. And Windham normally rules on surfaces like that, once he has a lead. For Windham, this was the one that got away, but you still have to be impressed by him. It's the closest race to his house, and he was flat-out going to win it until it all went wrong.

He has nothing broken, and he should be back for San Diego, which could end up being a mud race. And Windham easily could take back the one that got away next weekend, if he's healthy enough to take part.

KTMs Are Getting There

It could be that the tighter tracks helped the KTM 350s to be competitive, as all three were in the top 10. However, contrary to reports, the fifth place by Andrew Short was not KTM's best-ever finish in the class. I don't know what is KTM's best finish, but I do know that none other than Mike Fisher - current Monster Energy Kawasaki team manager - finished fourth place two or more times in 1991 on a white-and-teal KTM 250.
Andrew Short (29) leads Trey Canard (41) in their heat race. Short scored a best-ever fifth-place for the KTM 350 SX/F. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

Riding Dirty

Dean Wilson got arm-pump in the main event, and I don't know if he would admit it, but I think he got arm-pump because he was battling with Justin Barcia. And I'm not saying he got arm-pump because he was battling with someone, and that person happened to be Justin Barcia. To be clear, I'm saying I think he got arm-pump because he was battling specifically with Justin Barcia, who looks like he should be chasing ghosts with his dog, Scooby.
Justin Barcia (right) and Dean Wilson (left) talk things over after the main event. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

The two raced a lot as amateurs, and Barcia is known to clean people out at times. This may be a time when Barcia's reputation is starting to serve him well, rather than hurt him. Last year, racers were taking shots at him all the time because of his earned reputation for ramming guys who were in his way. But I always figured that if he weathered the storm, so to speak, the reputation could work in his favor, like it used to work for Bob Hannah, Ricky Johnson, and even Ricky Carmichael.

I think it's starting to.

But I would be remiss not to point out that Wilson hasn't been riding that long since returning to action from his separated shoulder, so that is most definitely a factor as well.

Baggett's Blues

I talked to Blake Baggett after the race, and he was flat-out pissed off that he got third. Don't you love that? He said, "I didn't work my butt off all off-season to come out here and get third." He was disgusted with himself. Watch out for this guy. He was fast all day, but starts and falls cost him. Knock those out, and he's going to be gnarly.
Blake Baggett has a winning attitude. But he benefited big-time by a Ryan Sipes takeout move on Blake Wharton late in the main. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

Sipes' Slam

Baggett did benefit from a serious bonehead move by Ryan Sipes, though. Sipes was fourth, pressuring Blake Wharton for third with two laps to go. Wharton does ride a pretty wide bike sometimes, but Sipes picked the absolute worst part of the track to try and make a pass, diving to the inside of Wharton before the track's most difficult triple, where there was no traction, and taking them both off the track and down. There was simply no way Sipes was going to complete the pass right there, but he went for it anyway. In the end, Sipes ended up fourth anyway, so he gained nothing, while Wharton ended up sixth. And he also gifted four points to Baggett, who absolutely will be a factor in this championship. If Sipes wants a shot at the title, he did damage to it at round one.

It is still unknown how Mr. Short will stack up against the likes of Ryan Dungy, Chad Reed and James Stewart aboard his new Factory KTM 350 four-banger, yet we deduce that one of the nicest guys in motocross knows how to promote himself. He has has been the face of internet interviews, blogs and videos going into 2010 more than another other elite factor rider thus far. Here is another cool clip from Mr. Smiles A Short. If this is not enough, he has a web site too, www.andrewshort.com

Andrew Short checks in with a video recap from his experience at this year's FIM Red Bull Motocross of Nations in Lakewood, Colorado. Find more about Shorty over on www.andrewshort.com.

After a very successful summer rounding the country in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship and defending his country at the FIM Red Bull Motocross of Nations, Andrew Short has joined the Red Bull KTM Racing effort for the 2011 season.

Short intends on contesting the open class for both the upcoming Supercross and Motocross season. Flanking him in the big orange rig will be KTM's Mike Alessi and MX2 World Champion Marvin Musquin in the National MX competition. Additionally, Ken Roczen, also new to the Red Bull KTM factory team in 2011 will compete in the AMA Supercross Lites class. Roczen plans on returning to Europe to ride for the KTM factory team upon the conclusion of the 2011 Supercross series.

Pit Beirer, head of KTM Racing: "With Andrew, Mike, Marvin and Ken we have a solid lineup for our first year as a full factory racing team in USA competition. Under the guiding hand of Roger DeCoster, one of the most experienced and respected figures in the sport, we expect that this team will lay the groundwork for emulating the success we now enjoy in Europe."

"I have known Andrew for many years and of course we had closer contact this year when preparing and racing for the MXoN. I am looking forward to working with him and the other KTM riders as we begin testing and preparing for the coming season. We now have a strong team and one with real potential." said Roger DeCoster about Shorty.

Related Reading
First Interview - Andrew Short talks about signing with KTM!