KTM factory team ready for St. Wendel

Rich experience, consistency and the benefit of a KTM factory bike has paid rich dividends for Italian S2 Supermoto rider Attilio Pignotti so far this season.

After four rounds of the world championship competition, Pignotti leads the championship standings. He has amassed 156 points and a cushion of a 10-point lead from second placed Gerald Delephine and is looking forward to the rest of the season with confidence and anticipation.

Pignotti is a competitor with a wealth of riding experience and this should stand him in good stead for the remaining five races in the series. He is also a wily rider with a finely tuned sense of tactics and has made consistency the name of his game plan for 2007. The results speak for themselves.

The Italian rider started the season with a flourish with a 2-2 result in the races of the Grand Prix of Europe to top the first GP podium of the season. Since then his results have been indelibly constant. He was fourth in Italy, second in France and third in Spain.

"The season so far has been a great satisfaction for me and it is great to be in a position to fight for the world title," Pignotti said, speaking from Italy. "At the beginning of the season I did not expect to be at this top level. But we have done a really great job with Massimo Migliorati, my team manager and the guys of the KTM Italia Team Miglio, and now we are having these great results. It's exciting to be the leader in the S2 world championship after four races."

Pignotti has been fascinated with motorcycles since his early childhood and on the competitive scene he has worked his way up through minis all the way to MX national and international competition before moving on to Supermoto.

His rich experience in motocross is an obvious advantage for the S2 championships but it is his overall skill and level of self confidence that has allowed him to make the breakthrough. The benefit of his KTM factory bike has also allowed him to vault into the spotlight and to be among the favourites for the S2 title at this stage in the season.

"My KTM it's an amazing bike, I'm so consistent because I have everything I need to be there, fighting for the final victory," Pignotti was quick to claim. "With a factory bike, you have more confidence in your skills and you can put more trust in yourself. Once again, I have to thank everybody in KTM and especially Migliorati for the amazing job we've done together.

Pignotti races next in Germany but he must be prepared to maintain his level of consistency. Much can happen in the five remaining races and only 25 points separate the first four riders in the S2 standings.

KTM factory rider Bernd Hiemer goes to the next round of the S1 WCH in Germany's St. Wendel happy in the knowledge that he is competing before his home crowd and confident after picking up fourth and third places in races in Italy last weekend.

"That was super training for the weekend in St. Wendel and my home GP in Germany," Hiemer said. Bernd expressed satisfaction that he had an "ok" start in the first race and a super start in the second. He also shaved time off his lap times in the races at Pomposa to improve on his training times.

Organizers at the German venue have reported that the spell of rainy weather will ease and although race day Sunday may be cloudy, they expect perfect dry conditions for race day. The German venue held its first ever World Championship event last year. On that occasion it was a place of victory for Hiemer and another win will help to boost both his confidence and his points score for the remaining races of the current season.

KTM factory rider Bernd Hiemer goes to the next round of the S1 WCH in Germany’s St. Wendel.

- KTM , Mattighofen-