Ohlins is back in motocross!
By TMX Archives on 19th Nov 09
AFTER a two-year gap, Ohlins will return to the GP motocross paddocks in 2010. The renowned Swedish suspension specialist has a solid background and an enviable CV which began in 1978 with the World 250cc Motocross title, with the KTM factory team headed by Russian rider Gennady Moiseev, and continued through to 2007 when Frenchman Christophe Pourcel clinched the World MX2 title.
At that point founder of the Swedish concern, Kenth Ohlin, decided to widen his horizons, putting off-road on standby to focus on other avenues like road-racing, where Ohlins leads in MotoGP and Superbike, and other motor vehicle markets like automotive and ATV.
To re-establish the previous winning tradition, in next season's World Motocross Championship series Ohlins will support the Yamaha Monster Energy team, owned by Michele Rinaldi with riders David Philippaerts (MX1) and Gautier Paulin (MX2), on Yamaha YZ450F and YZ250F respectively.
Explaining Ohlins' return to GP Motocross, company spokesman, Johnny Braster, said: It's a long story. When Kenth Ohlin started the industry in 1976 it was all off-road. We have been the leading suspension development company off-road until 2003, then we decided to focus on other businesses, like pit bikes, car products, etc., so we didn't focus on motocross enough and we lost our momentum and our market share.
FOR FULL STORY SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2009