KTM Announces 2014 AMA Supercross

KTM announced its 2014 AMA Supercross team, with reigning 250SX West Champion Ken Roczen joining Ryan Dungey on the 450 class team. The two will form a formidable one-two punch for the Red Bull KTM factory team as it hopes to unseat three-time champion Ryan Villopoto of Kawasaki.

“Next year’s competition is going to be tough with several young, fast and talented riders entering the 450 class,” says Dungey who has finished third for three straight seasons after winning the title in 2010. “The competition is strong which pushes us all to step up and ride faster. This will be my third season with Red Bull KTM and KTM is pushing to win a US Supercross Championship. My goal will be to win as many races as possible and consistently finish on the podium to work toward earning that title.”

Roczen won the 2013 250SX West title for KTM with three wins and five second-place results. The German racer has competed in the 450 class before on a KTM 350SX-F, but for 2014 he’ll be riding the 450SX-F Factory Edition which was developed specifically for Dungey.

“I’m really looking forward to stepping up to the 450 in both Supercross and Motocross classes next year,” says Roczen. “I feel really good riding the bigger bike. I know the competition will be tough but my goal is to battle up front each week. I’ve changed a lot of things in my program so I can run up front.”

Marvin Musquin returns to race for KTM in the 250SX East series. Musquin finished second in 2013, winning four main events but falling three points short of Honda rider Willaim Hahn. Taking Roczen’s place in the 250SX West series is Dean Ferris. The newcomer spent the last two seasons in the European MX GP series and won an MX2 class race for Australia at the Motocross des Nations. Musquin and Ferris will ride the KTM 250SX-F.

“With such a talented group of riders; Ryan and Ken both contesting the 450 competition and Marvin joined by Dean in the 250 competition, I really think 2014 is going to be an exciting year for KTM. Ryan and Ken have both made a lot of changes to their personal programs to put them in the best place possible mentally and physically heading into the start of Supercross season,” says Roger de Coster, Red Bull KTM team manager.

“I’m really glad we were able to add a fourth rider to the squad. With Ken moving up, it’s good for Marvin to have a teammate to train alongside as he works toward finishing one better and winning the East Coast SX title. I was very impressed with Dean’s speed at the Motocross des Nations this year and I’m interested to see what he can do in the outdoors. Having only just arrived in the US a month before the start of the Supercross season, the upcoming series will more or less be a learning season for him with higher expectations for 2015.”

[Source: KTM]

By Dennis Chung