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AMA Pro Superbike
AMA SBK: KTM Poised For Breakthrough Season?
Will the addition of Taylor Knapp alongside Chris Fillmore help elevate the KTM/HMC Superbike squad to full-on contender status?
(Photo: Evan Williams)
On Friday, KTM announced they’d signed Taylor Knapp to race alongside Chris Fillmore on the KTM/HMC Superbike team for 2013. Knapp fits in with what team wants -- young, aggressive riders looking to work hard and make their mark.
The KTM/HMC Superbike program has a ton of potential and is actually one of the more interesting Superbike efforts in the States. The KTM and the Eric Buell Racing team are the upstarts in the class, challenging the more traditional Superbike manufacturers from Europe and Japan. The EBR got a little more notoriety in 2012 based on better results and stands as the superior bike -- for now -- amongst the new boys. Could that be flipped in 2013?
In 2012, Fillmore’s season was hindered by a few crashes and a busted up hand, but also highlighted by some top five finishes. Stefan Nebel, KTM’s European test rider, came over for a number of races on the RC8 R, too.
On the surface, it wasn’t a bad year but not exactly a breakout season, either. But their year really should be judged with an asterisk. KTM raced a few events in 2011, shut down the program in the fall, and then flipped the switch on again at a very late date. They made Daytona but HMC didn’t get any development time with the bike and the team knew they were going into the year at a disadvantage. 2012 was really an extension of 2011, dipping the toe in the water. It was essentially recon.
The bike handles well but lacks power. One could say, based on the results in races and qualifying, that this was a top ten bike in 2012 with a shot at being a top five bike when things went just right.
Fillmore tried to make things happen but ended up on his head a few times too many. Apart from Chris missing seat time with injury, it was no great loss because we knew what the bike was. It was worth it to “go for it.” They pushed it and found out were the weaknesses were and learned some things.
New Orleans’ Saturday final was their best of the year. Chris was about 1.5 seconds per lap behind Hayes in the race but was close to Roger Hayden and finished just off the podium in fourth by a little more than a half second.
The KTM/HMC Superbike program has a ton of potential and is actually one of the more interesting Superbike efforts in the States. The KTM and the Eric Buell Racing team are the upstarts in the class, challenging the more traditional Superbike manufacturers from Europe and Japan. The EBR got a little more notoriety in 2012 based on better results and stands as the superior bike -- for now -- amongst the new boys. Could that be flipped in 2013?
In 2012, Fillmore’s season was hindered by a few crashes and a busted up hand, but also highlighted by some top five finishes. Stefan Nebel, KTM’s European test rider, came over for a number of races on the RC8 R, too.
On the surface, it wasn’t a bad year but not exactly a breakout season, either. But their year really should be judged with an asterisk. KTM raced a few events in 2011, shut down the program in the fall, and then flipped the switch on again at a very late date. They made Daytona but HMC didn’t get any development time with the bike and the team knew they were going into the year at a disadvantage. 2012 was really an extension of 2011, dipping the toe in the water. It was essentially recon.
The bike handles well but lacks power. One could say, based on the results in races and qualifying, that this was a top ten bike in 2012 with a shot at being a top five bike when things went just right.
Fillmore tried to make things happen but ended up on his head a few times too many. Apart from Chris missing seat time with injury, it was no great loss because we knew what the bike was. It was worth it to “go for it.” They pushed it and found out were the weaknesses were and learned some things.
New Orleans’ Saturday final was their best of the year. Chris was about 1.5 seconds per lap behind Hayes in the race but was close to Roger Hayden and finished just off the podium in fourth by a little more than a half second.
AMA SBK Homestead-Miami
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