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AMA Pro Racing press release

Ben Carlson was the leading scorer for the Red Bull HMC KTM team.

Ray Gundy photo

Red Bull HMC KTM made it a clean sweep of the two AMA Supermoto Team Championships by clinching the Supermoto team title in Las Vegas last weekend. The factory-backed squad had already wrapped up the Unlimited Team Championship at the Irwindale, Calif., round earlier this month. Team championship points are determined by the team's top two riders’ finishing points earned in all six rounds.

Ben Carlson was the leading scorer for the Red Bull HMC KTM team. He scored points in four of the six rounds, including a season high second-place finish in the Supermoto class at South Boston (Va.) Speedway. Second to Carlson in the team points was British rider Kurt Nicoll. The KTM Racing boss came over to the U.S. for two rounds of the series and scored a second at Laguna Seca and a fourth at the championship round in Las Vegas. Also scoring for the team in Supermoto was Chris Fillmore, Doug Chandler, Boris Chambon and Jurgen Kunzel.

Red Bull HMC KTM had a season-long battle with the Troy Lee Designs Honda squad that featured Jeff Ward and Jeremy McGrath. In the end it was Red Bull HMC KTM scoring 218 team points to Troy Lee Designs Honda’s 181. CHM Exhaust McAllister Motorsports Honda finished third with 109 points.

Team Owner Mitch Hansen was proud of his entire team, especially young Ben Carlson. Carlson was the leading team point scorer in both the Supermoto and Supermoto Unlimited classes. “I knew Benny had plenty of talent I just didn’t know if at his age he’s be able to stand up to the pressure,” said Hansen. “Other than the one time in Columbus where he crashed under pressure from (Jeff) Ward he rode flawlessly. Our chances at the championship took a big hit when Chandler was sidelined with injury, but fortunately our European riders were able to come in and fill the gap.” Hansen was referring to series-favorite Doug Chandler who broke his leg in a first turn crash at the Columbus round.

Red Bull HMC KTM will go down as the dominant team in 2003. The squad fielded two teams in each category and finished first and fourth in the Supermoto class and first and second in the Supermoto Unlimited class.

“That was our goal going into the season, but I’m not sure we really thought it was realistic,” said Hansen on winning both team titles. “We were honored to be part of the factory KTM effort this year. We were extremely pleased with the support we got from them and I think they were happy with our results. We’re already putting together the team for next year. We definitely plan on returning next season with the goal of winning both titles again.”

Repeats of this year’s rounds will be shown on the Outdoor Life Network throughout the rest of November and December. Check www.olntv.com for broadcast dates and times.

About AMA Pro Racing
AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the AMA Supercross Championship, the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Championship, the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship, the AMA Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championship and the AMA Red Bull Supermoto Championship. Nearly 2 million race fans attended AMA Pro Racing events during the 2002 season. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com.