Round 15, Pittsburgh

450 CLASS: Cooper Webb won the Pittsburgh Supercross from start to finish and barring an injury, mechanical failure or really bad race, Cooper is on the fast track to win his third AMA 450 Supercross crown when the 2025 series ends in Salt Lake City. Coming into Pittsburgh Chase Sexton was 9-points behind Cooper Webb. Chase’s big hope was to win all three of the final races, which would earn him the 9 points he needed if Cooper Webb finished second in all of them (because the 2025 Championship would then be tied on points and the title would go to the rider with the most wins—which would be Chase Sexton. The fly in Chase’s title hopes was that if he lost one of the final three rounds, Cooper Webb would be in the driver’s seat. Webb’s win in Pittsburgh gave him a 12-point lead in the points total—and 12 points would be hard for Chase to make up with only the two remaining races (Denver and Salt Lake City) — not impossible, but a very long shot.

250 EAST CLASS: Four things happened in the 250 Main event; (1) Point leader Seth Hammaker spun his rear wheel at the start and was buried in heavy traffic. He decided to throw caution to the wind and had a wild and wooly ride through the pack, but eventually moved up to finish 5th. (2) R.J. Hampshire jumped off the side of the track while running third, landing on a tough block, but quickly remounting to end up 4th. (3) Nate Thrasher led the 250 East main event from the start and seemed to be in control, but late in the moto he was caught and pass for the lead by a revitalized Tom Vialle. Nate didn’t give up, but there wasn’t enough time left to get back by Tom Vialle, who won his first race of the season and took the 250 East points lead by 1 point ahead of Seth Hammaker, with R.J Hampshire 3 points out of the lead. (4) The 250 East doesn’t doesn’t race again until the East/West Showdown race in Salt Lake City on May 10.

KTM Still Has Problems

KTM Group Stops Motorcycle Production Due Lack Of Parts!

Although KTM AG recently outlined ambitious plans for the future during a rebooting process unveiled a few weeks ago, progress has not gone as smoothly as anticipated. Just days before a critical vote on the company’s direction, production has once again come to a halt due to a lack of funding.

According to European media sources, particularly GPOne, the core issue stems from supply chain disruptions. KTM relies on third-party suppliers—such as Brembo—for many of its motorcycle components, rather than producing everything in-house. A reported spending freeze is currently preventing the company from purchasing necessary parts, effectively stopping production since they can’t complete assembly without them.

While Pierer Mobility has not issued a press release confirming this situation, the development isn’t entirely surprising. It was already known that KTM’s financial struggles had begun affecting its suppliers, with some pushed into precarious positions themselves. Larger suppliers, such as electronics or tire manufacturers, may be able to weather the storm but are likely demanding guarantees of payment. Smaller, local factories, however, are hit much harder and may not survive KTM’s delayed payments.

Now, GPOne says KTM did indeed start production mid-March, as planned, but that they had to shut the Austrian factory down after making only 4,200 bikes. Considering the plan was to build 230,000 motorcycles this year, they’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

This is bad news, but it only sits as background to even more potentially significant news. While Bajaj (KTM’s largest minority owner, by far) contributed the €150M needed to resume production, KTM AG is still short hundreds of millions of euros. When leadership announced its restructuring plan in February, much of that plan hinged on KTM AG repaying its creditors to the tune of €550M by late May. It does not appear that, at this point, the money has been secured; indeed, the company’s early-April press release indicated half of KTM AG’s share capital had been lost. In other words—investors’ shares were losing their value drastically, and the company needed to raise new money. There will be a general meeting on April 25 (tomorrow) to discuss how this is all worked out, especially as to whether KTM needs funds beyond Bajaj’s €150M (with another €50M also potentially incoming from Bajaj).

This story is far from finished—in fact, even the beginning is still unfolding. In the coming months, it appears increasingly likely that KTM will no longer remain under Austrian ownership. There’s also a strong possibility that a significant portion of production will move away from Mattighofen. Bajaj, which already manufactures a large part of KTM’s lineup in India, could take on even more production responsibilities if it gains greater control of the company.

For consumers, there’s a silver lining: there’s still a healthy supply of 2024 KTM, Husqvarna, and GasGas models available. So, even if 2025 bikes aren’t on the table, finding a brand-new ride this year shouldn’t be a problem. Ever since the company began openly addressing its financial troubles in late 2024, questions about its long-term future have been swirling. Unfortunately, without a crystal ball, it’s impossible to predict what will happen with parts availability, factory support, or other services. Based on our conversations with North American staff, it seems they don’t have many clear answers either. So, make your purchase decisions carefully—but from what I’ve personally seen, there are some excellent deals floating around in the KTM world right now.

Lawrence Bros Back Soon

    

Race Day Live caught up with both Hunter and Jett Lawrence in Pittsburgh, with Hunter confirming their return to racing is marked on the calendar as the 24th of May, the opening round of the Pro Motocross series at Pala.

Hunter said: “We are back racing soon, May 24th, Pala. We have that circled on the calendar and we are excited for it. Long days (prep), it’s like anything, it takes a lot of time, a lot of effort, takes a village to get to where we need to be. We work hard and they work just as hard with us, it’s going to be good.”

Jett said the pain of the rehab on his ACL injury has been real but it will be worth it to be back on track: “A lot of sweat and tears into getting this leg functioning again, trying to build the strength up to be riding a dirt bike with cycling, being in the gym, just doing everything painful that the knee doesn’t want to do, you kind of have to do it! All that pain is going to be worth it to be back racing, with the fans, and get that adrenalin rush again.”

With Jorge Prado and Eli Tomac also coming back from injury, and all being well, Jason Anderson, the Pro Motocross series opener won’t be one to miss with all the big hitters back on the gate!

Webb Builds on His Lead!

Coper Webb is one tough dude.

1. Webb

2. Sexton

3. Cooper

Jorge Prado Motocross Testing

Great Companies Have Great People

It's no secret great companies have great people and for 25 years Ryan has helped make Works Connection great. Jon well done Ryan!

25 years ago @ryno19801 Ryan Burke, answered an ad in the local newspaper for ‘help wanted’ and he was hired on the spot. Ryan started at the bottom and worked his way all the way to GM in 2010. If you’ve ever dealt with Ryan either in person or on the phone, you know he is a stand-up guy and Works Connection wouldn’t be where we’re at without him. Congrats Ryan on your 25th year at WC

Ian Harrison on East Rutherford

Tony Cairoli on racing MXGP in Italy for Ducati and racing some US outdoors?

Jorge Prado Talks Shoulder Recovery

Jeffrey Herlings - his MXGP comeback, future and Deegan!