How DO they lose the weight?
By TMX Archives on 27th Apr 07
MAX Nagl and the Sarholz KTM crew could hardly believe their ears when mechanic Rene Ebert returned from technical control on Friday to report that the German's 450 KTM, despite an almost empty fuel tank, weighed 114kg whilst the factory SX450F of David Philippaerts, which followed them through tech, had gone through exactly on the class weight limit of 102kg!
At the first GP in Valkenswaard Philippaerts' bike actually had to carry ballast after being initially weighed at 101kg.
Clearly the absence of a normal battery cell - the factory bike uses four pencil batteries - saves a couple of pounds but, at a rough estimate, the exotic factory casings only save a few hundred grams, so where does the rest of the weight reduction occur? Mattighofen engineers are not telling, but are very proud of their achievement in making the only model with an E-starter the lightest bike in the race.
And the SX250Fs of Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle are also right on the MX2 weight limit of 98kg!
* FOR Rui Goncalves the season effectively started in his native Portugal.
‘‘I rode last week in Spain, but you could hardly call it racing. I knew I was not ready, but I wanted to know how far off the pace I was.'' The 21-year-old Silver Action KTM teamster had only been able to start practising on the weekend of the first GP earlier this month after needing seven screws in his right forearm when he crashed with Ben Townley in New Zealand back in November, and then broke his right collarbone in three places when he crashed the first time he tried to come back in January.
Goncalves missed direct qualification in his heat at Agueda by one place, but cruised through the LCQ in second place to be the sole Portuguese qualifier in MX2. Paulo Goncalves, no relation, made it to the race in MX1.
For full story and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, April 27, 2007