KTM expands 125cc line-up, targets title.
Red Bull KTM has announced that it will expand its 125cc team from two to three riders for the 2005 season, in which winning the world title will be a 'primary goal'.
The expansion comes after a successful 2004 campaign when star rider Casey Stoner won the team's first GP and finished fifth in the world championship. However, the Australian will not ride for KTM next season and is expected to appear on a factory Aprilia in the 250cc class.
Red Bull KTM has announced that it will expand its 125cc team from two to three riders for the 2005 season, in which winning the world title will be a 'primary goal'.
The expansion comes after a successful 2004 campaign when star rider Casey Stoner won the team's first GP and finished fifth in the world championship. However, the Australian will not ride for KTM next season and is expected to appear on a factory Aprilia in the 250cc class.
But Stoner's 2004 team-mate Mika Kallio - who took a best finish of second on his way to tenth in the championship - will remain with the Austrian outfit, where he will be joined by new team-mates Julian Simon and Gabor Talmacsi.
17-year-old Simon (middle pic) claimed his first front row qualifying performance in the Czech GP at Brno this year and took a best finish of sixth, in the Malaysian GP at Sepang.
23-year-old Talmacsi, from Budapest, made his grand prix debut at Brno in 2000 and brings four seasons of GP experience to the KTM team.
"(The) 125cc world championship is a primary goal for next year," declared team manager Harald Bartol.
