King Kurt
By TMX Archives on 6th Dec 04
KTM's INTERNATIONAL racing team manager Kurt Nicoll celebrated his 40th birthday in style by taking a surprise come-from-behind win in the AMA Red Bull unlimited supermoto championship. The title was dumped into Kurt's lap when series leader Jurgen Kunzel suffered a flat tyre at the halfway point of the final Las Vegas round. "Jurgen was obviously very unlucky," says Kurt. "When he looked back at his tyre I thought he was just letting me by because he could still win the championship by finishing second. "But then I saw him slipping back through the pack and I felt for him. It's only taken me 40 years to win a championship - just wait until I'm older and have a little more experience!" The Vegas win is Kurt's third of the season - he's also won rounds at Reno and Boston. "The whole series has been incredible for me and the bike's been fantastic. At KTM we build the greatest bikes and we came out here to show it." Nicoll also claimed fifth in the 450 class that was won by a fellow motocross veteran of the '80s - Jeff Ward. The flying freckle - now aged 43 - pretty much dominated the series from the word go, never finishing off the podium in the seven-round series.