KTM Factory Racer....Junior

Parents and Grandparents see what a day looks like to be a Factory KTM racer for a day.

Phil Nicoletti to race 2025 Canadian Triple Crown Series

WLTN Kawasaki is thrilled to announce that Phil Nicoletti of Cochecton, NY, will compete in the 450 class of Triple Crown series aboard a Kawasaki KX450. A proven contender in both AMA Supercross and Pro Motocross, Nicoletti brings experience, grit, and relentless work ethic to the Canadian racing scene.

Known for his determied racing style and respected presence in the industry, Nicoletti has earned a reputation as one of the sport´s hardest-working and most well-liked riders. His extensive career includes success in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship and past Triple Crown Series appareances in 2019 and 2020, including winning the 2019 Triple Crown Championship. Now, he´s set to bring his talent and leadership to WLTN Kawasaki.

The 2025 season of the Triple Crown Series will be spread from West to East in the 8 rounds of racing with Calgary as the opning round on June 1st.

Acerbis back 2025 ISDE

To celebrate the return of the FIM International Six Days of Enduro to Bergamo in the beautiful Lombardy region of northern Italy, ACERBIS has extended its commitment as an event Main Partner through to the 2026 edition.

With a long and illustrious history stretching back fifty years, ACERBIS is a brand that has become synonymous with Enduro. Through a process of constant innovation, founder Franco Acerbis has helped shape the industry with ground-breaking products.

Acerbis’ passion for the sport has also helped Enduro develop on a global stage and, through his pioneering spirit and relentless commitment, he has been instrumental in taking the FIM International Six Days of Enduro to such distant locations as Brazil.

For this year’s ninety-ninth edition of the event that runs from 24-29 August, for the first time ACERBIS will produce the official 6DAYS® Racewear that will be soon unveiled.

Guido Acerbis, CEO ACERBIS Italia S.p.A, said: “We are immensely proud to be the Main Partner and Official Racewear partner of the FIM International Six Days of Enduro, which will take place in our region this August. This event is not only a great challenge for the riders but also a true celebration of our passion for off-road racing – something that is deeply embedded in our DNA.  We can’t wait to see the best riders take on this terrain that we hold so close to our hearts.”

Fabio Muner, the FIM Marketing and Digital Director, stated: “ACERBIS is at the heart of Enduro and Bergamo is at the heart of ACERBIS so with the 6DAYS® returning to this incredible region this year for its historic ninety-ninth edition, it is great to know we have their ongoing support until at least 2026. On behalf of the FIM I would like to thank ACERBIS for their continued commitment to the 6DAYS® and for this iconic collaboration.”

The ninety-ninth edition of the 6DAYS® FIM Enduro of Nations takes place in Bergamo, Italy, running from 24-29 August.

Blast from the Past Hurricane Storms NY

New Honda Stuff from WC Comming Soon!

Something new for Hondas coming soon from Works Connection. Can you guess what it might be.

Kick Start Kenny Tops Daytona!

All the contenders in the 450 Class entered the 55th annual Daytona Supercross with hopes of taking advantage of a rare opportunity. Coming into the weekend, Eli Tomac had won seven of the last nine times at Daytona. Justin Brayton got a popular win in 2018, while Jett Lawrence was the defending race winner. No active riders had a Daytona win, which guaranteed a first-time Daytona winner in 2025.

Ken Roczen was nearly perfect and claimed his 23rd Monster Energy AMA 450 Supercross win on Saturday. He qualified fourth and started the night off by dominating his heat race. When the gate dropped for the main event, he came around lap one in fourth. On lap four Roczen was able to get by Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb and made quick work of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson the next lap. Kenny set sights on leader, Red Bull KTM’s Aaron Plessinger, and made the pass for the lead at the halfway mark.

Roczen pulled out a five second lead after a few laps but came under some pressure from Webb with five minutes to go. It looked like we may see a repeat of Detroit, but not this time. Kenny withstood the pressure and pulled the lead back out after a few mistakes from Webb. After the race, Webb credited Roczen on his performance saying: “I started to get on it, I was able to inch up inch up, but he was riding well, and I started to ride harder, and it led me to make mistakes. He got me, straight up. It’s gone the other way a few times, but tonight he got me.”

Kenny was ecstatic about winning in Daytona: “I honestly still can’t believe it,” he emphasized on the podium. “I really put my head down, I had some really good lines. When you make those passes, you have to put your head down or else they will retaliate and come back. I was just charging the whole time trying to get a gap.”

At the post-race press conference, he claimed: “This is definitely up there as one of my best main event wins ever, and it’s pretty surreal because I’ve actually been pretty far away from it here.” 

Roczen went 7-7-5 in his last three races at Daytona.

Roczen rode a nearly perfect race. He had the track dialed, even doing a few lines that nobody else was doing. He commented on the track saying, “For the most part some of these bowl turns, even if you couldn’t triple there was a backup. You could go 2-3. So, I wasn’t too stressed about it. There was one time by the straightaway after the finish, I made a big mistake and doubled my way through the whole thing. I didn’t like that but that was really the biggest mistake I made.”

With the win, Kenny asserts himself firmly into this championship battle. “It was very reassuring,” said Roczen of his title hopes. “This is round eight and I’ve never really done that good at Daytona, but I really have nothing to lose. I just keep doing my thing and I trust in my decisions and for now it’s paying off.”

Roczen has only two finishes off the podium this year, a fourth at San Diego and his ill-fated night in Tampa.Align Media

Roczen now sits 16 points back of points leader Webb. He talked about the importance of gaining back some points this weekend, “Any time the gap goes to 19 points, you don’t want to see that gap get any bigger. We’ve seen that things can happen so quickly and it’s so fun for me to be in it. This win came at the right time. And if we don’t talk about points, this win is different. Any win for new nowadays is special, but I’ve won at stadiums before. I need to go back and be by myself a little bit and let it sink in.”

This was HEP Suzuki team manager Larry Brooks’ fifth Daytona win as a team manager. After the race Brooks spoke with PulpMX’s Steve Matthes about the prestige of winning Daytona. “It’s surreal to win Daytona. It’s just such a highlight on the schedule and to win it is something super special, I think for anybody.,” Brooks explained.

He also talked about Coop’s push to catch Kenny late in the race admitting, “I knew that little sucker was coming dude. The ball was in Kenny’s court. When he was in fourth and Cooper was right in front of him, it was up to him. He had to pick the ball up and run with it. He dove inside and got Webb, and then went up and got whoever, [Anderson and Plessinger] and just went to the lead right away. I was like okay, lets see what happens here and Webb kept putting attacks on him and would close it up and Ken would kind of retaliate and pull back out when Webb would make a mistake.”

Brooks also credited a midday fork change for a lot of Ken’s success on the night. “After first practice didn’t go so good, we threw some different forks on that we had built for this week. He was supposed to test them this week but he chose not to, which whatever.  And so, we threw those on, and we put a different rear tire on and that just changed the guy right there. We had a paddle on. He is not a big fan of the paddle, so we went away from that.,” he explained.

The series heads to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis next Saturday night. Roczen has had enormous success in the Circle City including a sweep of the three rounds in 2021 and his first win with the Progressive/ECSTAR/HEP Suzuki team in 2023. Going back-to-back would not only be huge for the championship but would also erase a trend of one SX win per year that he’s been on since 2022. Every time Ken wins it is just a reminder of how big a superstar he is in this sport. Love him or hate him (and there sure aren't many haters left these days), having Ken Roczen winning and relevant in a championship battle is great for the series.

Argentina MXGP

Works Connection Product Development

What's the best way to develop new products? Well, if you're the boss you take your designs to the track and test them out yourself.

Eric Phipps testing the latest WC products

Jeffrey Herlings to miss MXGP of Argentina

After months of uncertainty, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing has confirmed that Jeffrey Herlings - who is working towards a competitive return and through the final stages of rehabilitation after surgery to repair a torn right ACL – will miss the start of the 2025 FIM Motocross World Championship.

The five-time world champion and currently the most successful Grand Prix winner in history is getting closer to his goal of being able to ride, test and get back into MXGP shape for 2025. The 30-year-old underwent an operation to fix the right knee injury, which he sustained in the sand of Valkenswaard in October 2024 and after a strong campaign in which he completed the 20-round season with third in the standings and with 4 GP wins and 15 podium finishes.

Since the medical procedure the Dutchman (Red Bull KTM’s longest serving racer after joining the factory MXGP team in 2010) has been following the rehab steps and is now just a few weeks away from being able to ride his 2025 KTM 450 SX-F.

Herlings will not be able to join the rest of his team for the season-opening Grand Prix of Argentina on March 1/2 but will then assess his pace and progress until he is ready to enter the MXGP start gate once more for his eighth attempt at the class and his 16th year as a world championship athlete.

“We’re looking good. I can do everything aside from ride the bike. I can cycle, swim, cross train – and it should only be a few weeks until we are back to the normal plan,” said Jeffrey. “2024 wasn’t a great season but it was decent; we’d made a lot of races, came close to the MXGP championship, won a few GPs and had something like 15 podiums at the end. I wanted to be strong coming into this year so having this setback was not good but what I can hope for now is a successful second part of the championship. It was a weird injury because there was not much pain after surgery but it takes time to recover. I want to ride as soon as possible and join the rest of my Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team… but we just need to wait a little longer. I really want to race again.”

Romain Febvre Dominates In Lierop, Ready to Chase MXGP Glory

Romain Febvre delivered a statement performance ahead of the 2025 MXGP season opener, going 1-1 at Lierop in the Netherlands in a commanding final pre-season showing.

The Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP rider looked in top form, proving he’s ready to battle for the title as the championship kicks off this weekend in Argentina.

Originally set to race in Sommières, Febvre and his team had to make a last-minute change when the French event was canceled due to bad weather. Undeterred, the KRT squad made the overnight journey to Lierop, where Febvre lined up alongside his new teammate, Pauls Jonass, for one final tune-up before the season. While not a full MXGP field, the competition was still intense, with local specialists and strong international riders providing a solid challenge.

Febvre wasted no time showcasing his speed. In the first moto, he ran second behind Jonass before the Latvian crashed in the wave section. With no way to avoid Jonass’ bike, Febvre also went down but managed to remount still in the lead. From there, he charged ahead, pulling away at two seconds per lap to take the win by 17 seconds.

Romain Febvre (#3) and new teammate Pauls Jonass (#41) went head-to-head at Lierop, showcasing their speed ahead of the MXGP season opener.

In race two, Febvre grabbed the holeshot and engaged in a thrilling battle with Dutch sand specialist and MXGP regular Glenn Coldenhoff. The two distanced themselves from the field by five seconds per lap, but Febvre never faltered, controlling the race from the front to complete a perfect 1-1 sweep. His pace was so strong that he lapped up to sixth place, reinforcing his status as a top contender for the upcoming MXGP season.

“When Sommières was cancelled, we had to change our plan, so huge thanks to the team for making the trip here,” Febvre said. “They had to work on the bike settings because Sommières is a hard-pack track and Lierop is deep sand! I hadn’t trained in the sand for two weeks, but I wanted to do one more race before the first MXGP, so I was happy to be here. In the first moto, I had a good start and was running second when Pauls crashed in the waves—his bike landed in front of me, and I had no chance to avoid it! Luckily, I got back up still leading and won that moto. In the second race, I took the holeshot, and Coldenhoff was pushing, but I stayed in front and won again. I’ve had podiums at Hawkstone and Lacapelle, but it feels great to finally win races. I feel comfortable, I feel fast, and I feel ready for Argentina.”

Meanwhile, Pauls Jonass—who recently joined the team for 2025—delivered an impressive performance despite a pair of setbacks. The former MX2 World Champion led early in moto one before a crash dropped him to fourth, and in moto two, an unfortunate tangle at the start left him dead last. However, he charged through the field with race-leading pace, climbing all the way to third on the final lap to secure an overall podium finish.

“The results could have been better, but the riding and feeling were both good, so I can take a lot of positives to Argentina,” Jonass reflected. “I crashed while leading in the first moto, and in race two, another rider’s handlebars got stuck in my rear wheel off the start, so I was last into turn one. But I found a great rhythm and had good speed to come back to third. I’m ready for the season.”

With three solid pre-season races under their belt, the Kawasaki Racing Team is primed for the long battle ahead.

“Romain’s starts and riding were very strong, and he took no unnecessary risks in this final pre-season race,” KRT Team Manager Antti Pyrhönen said. “Pauls was also riding really well, and considering how much time he spent off the bike, he’s coming strong. The entire team has worked hard, and we’re ready for the World Championship.”

With Febvre looking sharp and Jonass gaining momentum, all eyes are now on Argentina as the 2025 MXGP season kicks off this weekend.