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Season Finale of the KTM X-BOW Battle

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Mattigh<strong>of</strong>en/Brno October 8, 2011<br />

SEASON FINALE OF THE <strong>KTM</strong> X-<strong>BOW</strong> BATTLE IN BRNO:<br />

DOUBLE VICTORY FOR REINI KOFLER IN THE RAIN!<br />

The grand finale <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>KTM</strong> X-<strong>BOW</strong> BATTLE 2011 more than did justice to what was<br />

a really great season <strong>of</strong> racing. Even though victory in all three classes had already<br />

been decided in <strong>the</strong> ‘home game’ on <strong>the</strong> Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, all<br />

drivers were highly motivated and <strong>the</strong> changeable autumn wea<strong>the</strong>r transformed <strong>the</strong><br />

two races on <strong>the</strong> “Masaryk-Ring: into real thrillers. Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> drivers and teams<br />

had decided not to compete in <strong>the</strong> final showdown but Raphael Sperrer, <strong>the</strong> most<br />

prominent absentee starter was still at <strong>the</strong> track to take care <strong>of</strong> his customers and to<br />

enjoy <strong>the</strong> final Friday night barbeque with his racing colleagues. Despite <strong>the</strong> fact that<br />

some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> regulars not to race, 27-28 competitors showed up in <strong>the</strong> final results,<br />

which underlines <strong>the</strong> tremendous increase <strong>of</strong> interest and <strong>the</strong> positive experiences<br />

competitors have had in <strong>the</strong> second year <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>KTM</strong> X-<strong>BOW</strong> BATTLE series. Just as<br />

satisfied was ‘circus director’ Georg Silbermayr who was careful not to show too<br />

many <strong>of</strong> his cards concerning what might be in store for 2012. “First <strong>of</strong> all my thanks<br />

to all participants and <strong>the</strong>ir teams who have made this great season possible but also<br />

to my staff and to <strong>KTM</strong>. We can really be proud <strong>of</strong> this fantastic Brand Trophy and <strong>of</strong><br />

a great race series, which in <strong>the</strong> second year <strong>of</strong> its existence had around 30 regular<br />

starters and very many guest drivers. I think we can be confident that with <strong>the</strong> new<br />

regulations <strong>the</strong> success <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>KTM</strong> X-<strong>BOW</strong> BATTLE is going to continue. In 2012 we<br />

want to see about 40 regular starters. Because that’s too many on a racing circuit<br />

<strong>the</strong>re will be a kind <strong>of</strong> pre-qualification. And from 2013 we want to separate <strong>the</strong> ‘very<br />

fast’ – unlimited and ProAm starters - from those who are somewhat slower, e.g. <strong>the</strong><br />

rookies.” So it looks like dazzling prospects for success next season, which is<br />

expected to be again in conjunction with <strong>the</strong> Porsche Alpine Cup competition. “We<br />

really feel very, very comfortable in <strong>the</strong> company <strong>of</strong> this competition, <strong>the</strong> guys from<br />

<strong>the</strong> Porsche Alpine Cup do a great job, <strong>the</strong> racing circuits are beautiful and <strong>the</strong><br />

concept <strong>of</strong> having Friday and Saturday as race days followed by a free Sunday is<br />

also very popular with our starters. I don’t see any reason that we should do it any<br />

o<strong>the</strong>r way!” Georg Silbermayr promised more on <strong>the</strong> calendar and <strong>the</strong> regulations in<br />

December, and with a wink he adds: “Speaking <strong>of</strong> December, since we have our big<br />

end <strong>of</strong> season party on December 2 in <strong>the</strong> Vienna disco ‘Take Five’ maybe <strong>the</strong> teams<br />

should plan to also plan to have a free day on December 3…”<br />

Race 1, October 7, 2011<br />

Pole-Position for Reini K<strong>of</strong>ler: The <strong>KTM</strong> test driver was unbeatable at midday on a<br />

rainy Friday. It was not even possible for Marko Klein, <strong>the</strong> season’s dominator to be


faster. K<strong>of</strong>ler had a comfortable 1.5 seconds lead on <strong>the</strong> Class 3 “Unlimited”<br />

champion. Ra<strong>the</strong>r surprisingly, Pavel Heinik earned third place on <strong>the</strong> grid with his<br />

heavily modified auto, also in Class 3. The Czech driver had really prepared for his<br />

home race and had a very strong performance. The same could be said for his<br />

countryman Martin Novotny, who in <strong>the</strong> Class 2 (ProAm) was second fastest just<br />

0.167 seconds behind last year’s champion Klaus Angerh<strong>of</strong>er, while Gerhardt<br />

Trenker was third fastest. Among <strong>the</strong> ‘Rookies’ it was ano<strong>the</strong>r pole position for a<br />

Czech driver: Ondrej Bach was an unbelievable 20 thousandths <strong>of</strong> a second in front<br />

<strong>of</strong> Sehdi Sarmini, who himself was only 27 thousandths <strong>of</strong> a second in front <strong>of</strong> Artur<br />

Chwist <strong>of</strong> Poland! The start <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> race was very strange. Everything went smoothly<br />

at <strong>the</strong> front where Marko Klein overtook Reini K<strong>of</strong>ler to take <strong>the</strong> lead but by <strong>the</strong> time<br />

<strong>the</strong> back <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> field crossed <strong>the</strong> start/finish line <strong>the</strong>re was chaos. Class 3 competitor<br />

Ernst Kirchmayr who started in 19 th place had to swerve to avoid a driver who was<br />

suddenly slower. He spun out in <strong>the</strong> process and ran into his teammate Viktor Mach.<br />

While Mach was put out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> race, Kirchmayr tried to drive on before he had to pull<br />

his X-<strong>BOW</strong> over because <strong>the</strong> front wheel had been torn <strong>of</strong>f. Meanwhile at <strong>the</strong> front <strong>of</strong><br />

<strong>the</strong> pack <strong>the</strong> fight between K<strong>of</strong>ler and Klein continued lap after lap until finally <strong>the</strong><br />

<strong>KTM</strong> test driver managed to edge ahead. Third place went to Jim Gebhardt who<br />

fought a many lap duel with Sebastian Grunert and at <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> race also had to<br />

battle with Pavel Heinik. Grunert was angry with himself after <strong>the</strong> race because he<br />

made a mistake in <strong>the</strong> very hard fight with Gebhardt and Heinik and slipped back in<br />

<strong>the</strong> field. Martin Novotny, winner <strong>of</strong> Class 2 crossed <strong>the</strong> finish line in a strong seventh<br />

place managing to convert his strong performance in qualifying into a great race<br />

performance. The same went for Class 3 drivers Quirin Müller and Jakub Rejlek. The<br />

German and <strong>the</strong> Czech were on <strong>the</strong> start with two completely series X-<strong>BOW</strong> R<br />

models and added to this, both were driving in <strong>the</strong>ir first “BATTLE” races. “Bernie<br />

Silverstone” aka Georg Silbermayr completed <strong>the</strong> top ten. Gerhardt Trenker and<br />

Klaus Angerh<strong>of</strong>er, who took second and third place in Class 2, were next followed by<br />

Sehdi Sarmini as winner <strong>of</strong> Class 1. He was able to finish way in front <strong>of</strong> Belgium’s<br />

Rudy Lemmens, <strong>the</strong> new champion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ‘Rookies’, while Lemmings had a<br />

significant advantage over Artur Chwist, who took third place in Class 1 after Pole<br />

sitter Ondrej Bach had a DNF.


Race 2 October 8, 2011<br />

The second qualifying ended up being in similarly difficult wet conditions as <strong>the</strong> first.<br />

Reini K<strong>of</strong>ler was on pole, behind him Marko Klein and Jim Gebhardt. It went much<br />

better for Ernst Kirchmayr, who drove his repaired X-<strong>BOW</strong> into sixth place behind <strong>the</strong><br />

two Class 2 starters Klaus Angerh<strong>of</strong>er and Martin Novotny. Sehdi Sarmini had tanked<br />

up on self confidence following his strong performance in <strong>the</strong> first race and grabbed<br />

<strong>the</strong> ‘Rookies” pole for <strong>the</strong> second race by a wafer thin margin in front <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

astonishingly fast Piotr Maslanka who, with his teammate Artur Chwist who was third,<br />

stole <strong>the</strong> show in what turned out to be an internal Polish championship. Everyone<br />

was beginning to remember <strong>the</strong> wea<strong>the</strong>r chaos at <strong>the</strong> Red Bull Ring where it began<br />

to rain just as <strong>the</strong> cars were lining up for <strong>the</strong> second race – and it turned out exactly<br />

<strong>the</strong> same at <strong>the</strong> last race <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> season in Brno. Just as <strong>the</strong> pit lights turned from red<br />

to green <strong>the</strong> heavens opened and <strong>the</strong> resulting deluge put parts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> circuit<br />

completely underwater. That <strong>the</strong>re were no serious race incidents ei<strong>the</strong>r in <strong>the</strong> first<br />

lap or after was down to how pr<strong>of</strong>essional <strong>the</strong> drivers reacted, as well as <strong>the</strong>ir skills<br />

and calm approach. At <strong>the</strong> same time <strong>the</strong> field split up into spectacular fighting<br />

groups where no one was prepared to yield a millimeter. Right at <strong>the</strong> front Reini<br />

K<strong>of</strong>ler and Marko Klein fought a wheel on wheel duel throughout <strong>the</strong> entire race, from<br />

which K<strong>of</strong>ler was finally able to emerge <strong>the</strong> winner by just 0.049 seconds. The <strong>KTM</strong><br />

test pilot dedicated his double victory to <strong>the</strong> memory <strong>of</strong> development engineer Robert<br />

Prielinger who died in a fatal accident <strong>the</strong> week before. “My thanks go to <strong>KTM</strong> and<br />

<strong>the</strong> entire development team. We have made some big advances this season and<br />

<strong>the</strong> double victory this weekend at <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> season shows we have been<br />

working in <strong>the</strong> right direction, even if I have to say that Marko was a very strong<br />

opponent. We want to dedicate <strong>the</strong>se victories to our colleague Robert who was<br />

taken from us much sooner that he should have been.” Jim Gebhardt was again third<br />

in front <strong>of</strong> a somewhat disappointed Pavel Heinik, who before <strong>the</strong> race had hoped to<br />

finish in third place. Ernst Kirchmayr and Sebastien Grunert delivered a spectacular<br />

duel for fifth place, which in <strong>the</strong> end was snapped by <strong>the</strong> Plus-City boss. Meanwhile<br />

Grunert spun out and <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong> track in <strong>the</strong> final attack and crossed <strong>the</strong> line in 13 th<br />

place. Martin Novotny finished in a great sixth as <strong>the</strong> dominant winner <strong>of</strong> Class 2,<br />

whereas behind him <strong>the</strong>re was ano<strong>the</strong>r two-way battle between <strong>the</strong> former Red Bull<br />

Racing rookie Quirin Müller and <strong>the</strong> Czech Jakub Rejlek, which Müller managed to<br />

take by a blink <strong>of</strong> an eye. Place nine went to Jürgen Pipp, “Bernie Silverstone” had to<br />

again be satisfied with tenth place, just in front <strong>of</strong> Klaus Angerh<strong>of</strong>er and Gerhardt<br />

Trenker, who took second and third place in Class 2. A bit fur<strong>the</strong>r back in <strong>the</strong> field<br />

was Rudy Lemmens who, with his victory in Class 1 underlined his championship<br />

quality and stole <strong>the</strong> advantage from Sehdi Sarmini and <strong>the</strong> very strong performance<br />

<strong>of</strong> Piotr Maslanka who took <strong>the</strong> minor places.


The Results:<br />

Race 1, October 7, 2011:<br />

01. Reini K<strong>of</strong>ler (Class 3), 26:23,261 minutes (12 Laps)<br />

02. Marko Klein (Class 3), + 1,925 seconds<br />

03. Jim Gebhardt (Class 3), + 49,738<br />

04. Pavel Heinik (Class 3), + 50,012<br />

05. Sebastian Grunert (Class 3), + 50,863<br />

06. Jürgen Pipp (Class 3), + 1:12,501 minutes<br />

07. Martin Novotny (Class 2), + 1:12,859<br />

08. Quirin Müller (Class 3), + 1:19,999<br />

09. Jakub Rejlek (Class 3), + 1:23,596<br />

10. “Bernie Silverstone” (Class 3), + 1:43,649<br />

11. Gerhardt Trenker (Class 2), + 1:43,750<br />

12. Klaus Angerh<strong>of</strong>er (Class 2), + 2:02,452<br />

13. Sehdi Sarmini (Class 1), + 1<br />

14. Gerd Lukas (Class 3), + 1<br />

15. Eyke Angermayr (Class 3), + 1<br />

16. Rudy Lemmens (Class 1), + 1<br />

17. Martin Jansa (Class 3) + 1<br />

18. Artur Chwist (Class 1) + 1<br />

19. Robert Lattermann (Class 1) + 1<br />

20. “EYE TEE” (Class 1) + 1<br />

21. Hubert Schmalnauer (Class 2) + 1<br />

22. Bernd Kaindlsdorfer (Class 1), + 1<br />

23. Piotr Maslanka (Class 1), + 1<br />

24. Ondrej Bach (Class 1), DNF<br />

25. Viktor Mach (Class 1), DNF<br />

26. Uwe Schmidt (Class 3), DNF<br />

27. Ernst Kirchmayr (Class 3), DNF


Race 2, October 8, 2011:<br />

01. Reini K<strong>of</strong>ler (Class 3), 25:33,440 minutes 11 seconds<br />

02. Marko Klein (Class 3), + 0,049 seconds<br />

03. Jim Gebhardt (Class 3), + 29,148<br />

04. Pavel Heinik (Class 3), + 39,226<br />

05. Ernst Kirchmayr (Class 3), + 1:21,574<br />

06. Martin Novotny (Class 2), + 1:24,061<br />

07. Quirin Müller (Class 3), + 1:26,360<br />

08. Jakub Rejlek (Class 3), + 1:26,463<br />

09. Jürgen Pipp (Class 3), + 1:32,571 minutes<br />

10. “Bernie Silverstone” (Class 3), + 1:33,714<br />

11. Klaus Angerh<strong>of</strong>er (Class 2), + 1:34,413<br />

12. Gerhardt Trenker (Class 2), + 1:34,850<br />

13. Sebastian Grunert (Class 3), + 2:14,799<br />

14. Martin Jansa (Class 3) + 2:24,534<br />

15. Gerd Lukas (Class 3), + 1<br />

16. Rudy Lemmens (Class 1), + 1<br />

17. Sehdi Sarmini (Class 1), + 1<br />

18. Eyke Angermayr (Class 3), + 1<br />

19. Piotr Maslanka (Class 1), + 1<br />

20. Ondrej Bach (Class 1), + 1<br />

21. Artur Chwist (Class 1) + 1<br />

22. Jakub Havrlant (Class 2), + 1<br />

23. “EYE TEE”“ (Class 1) + 1<br />

24. Bernd Kaindlsdorfer (Class 1), + 1<br />

25. Robert Lattermann (Class 1) + 1<br />

26. Hubert Schmalnauer (Class 2) + 1<br />

27. Viktor Mach (Class 1), + 1<br />

28. Uwe Schmidt (Class 3), DNF


Best in Class:<br />

Class 1:<br />

Race 1, October 7, 2011:<br />

01. Sehdi Sarmini<br />

02. Rudy Lemmens<br />

03. Artur Chwist<br />

Race 2, October 8, 2011:<br />

01. Rudy Lemmens<br />

02. Sehdi Sarmini<br />

03. Piotr Maslanka<br />

Class 2:<br />

Race 1, October 7, 2011:<br />

01. Martin Novotny<br />

02. Gerhardt Trenker<br />

03. Klaus Angerh<strong>of</strong>er<br />

Race 2, October 8, 2011:<br />

01. Martin Novotny<br />

02. Klaus Angerh<strong>of</strong>er<br />

03. Gerhardt Trenker<br />

Class 3:<br />

Race 1, October 7, 2011:<br />

01. Reini K<strong>of</strong>ler<br />

02. Marko Klein<br />

03. Jim Gebhardt<br />

Race 2, October 8, 2011:<br />

01. Reini K<strong>of</strong>ler<br />

02. Marko Klein<br />

03. Jim Gebhardt

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