KTM Australia press release:

KTM factory support rider Caleb Ward made sure his debut national level ride on a big bore was one to remember, going within six points of winning the prestigious Mountain Man title at the famous event’s 40th anniversary running, at Echo Valley Raceway in Toowoomba. Ward finished second behind MX Nationals Vice Champion Kade Mosig, and ahead of Luke Arbon.

Despite only having his KTM 350 SX-F practice bike available to use in the unlimited capacity main event, Ward took it right up to 450-mounted Mosig, registering 2, 1, 2 results in the three back-to-back motos.

The championship would be decided in a tough 30-minute finale, and after trailing Mosig by a few seconds for much of the race, Ward surged hard in the closing stages to bring himself right up onto his opponent’s back wheel, but was unable to effect a pass the pass.

In 125cc Gold Cup support class, 24-year-old Toowoomba rider Kerrod Morrissy used a first-moto victory as a springboard to take the challenge right up to MX2 regular Luke Arbon, and very nearly came away with the chocolates, his 1,2,3 scores taking into within seven points of the title.

Another blazing-fast KTM-mounted local, Kaleb Barham looked to be the early favourite as he powered away with the lead in the first moto, only to slip and finish third in the opener, before a heavy crash in the second race put paid to his efforts for the day.

Caleb Ward – “It was good to race against Mosig who is obviously a top 450 guy. In the last moto we sort of played a bit of cat and mouse – he sort of pulled a bit on me at the start, and then I was sort of matching him for ages. I made a few mistakes in the middle and he gapped me a little bit more. I waited and waited because I didn’t know how well I would last on the big bike in the long moto and then right at the end I put in a big charge and managed to get onto his back wheel but I got held up by lappers on the last lap so that was a bit unfortunate, but it was a really good day. Obviously he is on a factory Yamaha and I was just on my practice bike, which was pretty much stock. It’s still faster than my factory 250 but I’m really happy with my speed and how I felt on the 350. I love it here. We had a national here this year and I did really well, and obviously this weekend track was prepped awesome and there were some ruts that sort of suited me. I really enjoyed it.”

Kerrod Morrissy – “It was a really good day for me. It started off pretty well with a race win and then in the second race I got a pretty bad start, and I knew Arbon was out front so I had to work really hard I got back to second so I was super pumped. It all came down to the last one, and I crumbled under the pressure a little bit I think, and couldn’t get around the boys good enough. The track was on point though, and the other boys rode absolutely awesome. Today I rode a stock standard 2016, just pulled straight out the crate. We didn’t actually do anything to it so the thing absolutely flies. I love the KTMs, they handle really good out-of-the-box and that’s why they are a ready-to-race bike.”

For more information on KTM Motorcycles, visit www.ktm.com.au or www.facebook.com/KTMAustralia.