FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Captures Two Podium Finishes at Round 5 of the AMA Big 6 GP Series

PRIMM, Nev. – The FMF KTM Factory Racing Team emerged from Round 5 of the 2018 AMA Big 6 Grand Prix Series on Sunday with two podium finishes in the premier WCGP Pro and Women’s Pro classes. Five-time GNCC Champion Kaliub Russell earned his first-career Big 6 podium with third-overall, while his teammate, Kacy Martinez, fought hard to make a last-lap pass to secure second-place in Primm, Nevada.

In his first season competing in the series, Russell has continued to make strides in adapting to the high-speeds and unfamiliar terrain of Big 6 racing. In just his fourth start of 2018, as he missed Round 4 due to a scheduling conflict with the GNCC Series, Russell put his KTM 250 XC-F onto the overall podium with a solid performance.

As the light turned green to signify the start of the WCGP Pro race, Russell was left in the dust as he wasn’t anticipating the light going green so quickly. As a result, he began the race outside the top ten but quickly battled his way up to seventh on the opening lap. From there, Russell continued to climb into podium contention and set his sights on closing the gap to the lead battle. Russell was able to cut the gap from 54 seconds to 21 with one lap to go but he soon realized that it wouldn’t be enough to overtake a higher position and he backed off to settle for third.

Russell: “I'm happy I was able to fight through the dry and dusty conditions to get my first podium of the year. I feel like each race I've been able to adapt a little bit more and I'm going to keep aiming for the center of the podium."

In the WCGP Women’s Pro class, FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Kacy Martinez put her KTM 250 XC-F into third off the start, where he battled back-and-forth for second early in the race. Martinez eventually settled into third before capitalizing on another rider’s pit stop to move herself back into second briefly until assuming third once again. On the final lap, Martinez dug deep to charge her way back up to second to ultimately finish with a strong second-place.

Martinez:“Off the start, I didn’t get that good of a jump but I put my head down and got through that first lap. It was pretty dusty and crazy so just learning the lines that had formed throughout the day was pretty difficult for me. I could see that I was catching second-place slightly every lap so I just rode my own race and did my best to stay out of the rough stuff and was able to push at the end to pass into second on the last lap.”

KTM-supported rider Brandy Richards had a dominant performance to earn her fourth-consecutive victory of the season in the WCGP Women’s Pro class.

Round 5: May 5 / Primm Casino Resort / Primm, Nevada

WCGP Pro Results

1. Trevor Stewart, HON (8 laps)

2. Blayne Thompson, KAW

3. Kailub Russell, KTM

WCGP Women Pro Results

1. Brandy Richards, KTM, 1:39:30 (7 laps)

2. Kacy Martinez, KTM, 1:40:13

3. Britney Gallegos, KTM, 1:40:15

4. Lauren Woods, KTM, 1:48:16