The KTM Maehr Superstock Team, this year contesting their first season onboard KTM's recently released 1190 RC8, is being reinforced as of the next race in Brno, Czech Republic with a second rider, Finnish racer Pauli Pekkanen.
Pekkanen joins Rene Maehr as the second rider in what is the company's first season in Superstock, one in which KTM and the team is dedicated to gaining experience with the bike and in a whole new category of motor sports activity. Sending the RC8 straight on to the racing circuits is yet another extension of KTM‘s Ready to Race philosophy for the manufacturer that is one of the world leaders in the production of sports motorcycles.
Hailing from Jämsä in Finland and a motorcycle technician by profession, Pekkanen is yet another Finnish rider to race for the Orange team. Mika Kallio is a dominant force in 250 cc road racing while Juha Salminen, Samuli Aro and Marko Tarkkala are all dominant forces in the three classes of Enduro world championships.
Pekkanen has graduated through the ranks, racing in the Finnish Championship Cup B and A classes where he was overall 125 champion and third overall in the Scandinavian open class. In 2004 he was fourth in the Finnish Supersport Championship and third the following two years. He registered race wins, podiums and track records in the Finnish Supersport championship in 2007 before moving to international KTM Super Duke racing where he has been a force on the podiums. His presence will add both weight and experience to the KTM Maehr Superstock Team in this, KTM's first year of this type of racing.
"It was clear to us right from the start that alongside the extremely talented Rene, we would need a second rider so that we would be able to gather even more experience in the first year of motor sport for the RC8. After some tests, Pauli Pekkanen is also going to be able to help us by racing so that we can keep advancing with the Superstock development project. Until now he has integrated himself into to team perfectly, we have the infrastructure in place and we will also be supporting him in the best possible way in his first race in this class in Brno," said Philipp Habsburg, Head of KTM R&D.
