Angus Reekie and KTM 1290 SDR wrap up Nakedbike Title
KTM’s two-wheeled testosterone machine the 1290 Super Duke R now has an Australian Road Race Championship title under its belt, after the weekend’s sixth and final round of the Australasian Superbike Championship at Eastern Creek.
In the hands of master blaster Angus Reekie, the Super Duke R came from behind to claim the Australasian Superbike Championships Naked Bike category, while Reekie was also awarded the winner’s trophy for Pro Twins combined classification.
For Reekie, who crashed out during practice for the penultimate round in September, it was a resumption of regular service as he and his V-twin streetfighter performed yet another clean sweep of three wins for the weekend – in the process achieving the very enviable record of having won every naked bike race he has started in 2014.
The title is the ninth national championship for Reekie, whose cabinet already holds six Australian Supermoto, one Supermono, and one FX Pro Thunder trophies.
Reekie’s was one of two spectacular performances by the booming V Twins over the weekend, with Melbourne stuntman “Lukey” Luke Follachio making a highly credible transition to Naked Bike racing on his 1290 Super Duke R, and helping KTM to a 1-2 overall finish.
In his first racing appearance in more than 10 years, Lukey Luke mixed it with the championship regulars and came away with three second place results for the weekend, in the process helping Reekie to a two-point win in the naked bike championship.
Not that this kept him from his regular line of work, as Lukey Luke duly rolled out his KTM 690 Duke R stunt bike for a lunchtime stunt session on both days.
Adding to the KTM trophy haul for the weekend, Reekie’s eye-catching 1290 also won the Australian Motorcycle News Best Presented team award for 2014.
Angus Reekie – “It felt absolutely unreal to win this. I didn’t work out the points before the last race because I just wanted to go out there and race like I’ve been racing all year. So when the commentator said that we’d won it, it was pretty emotional to be honest. It’s been a pretty tough year for myself and my family – racing financially is always hard, so it was so great to get the reward for it.
The conditions were extreme. The track temps were getting up to 60° so all the oil and junk came up to the surface and made things slippery. But I think that moved things in my favour, being of a Supermoto background and riding the 1290 that manages things better than most of the other bikes on the grid.
Lukey Luke was great, he’s a very talented rider and it was great to see another KTM out there representing. He’s such a great bloke; he loves life and he lives it to the fullest, so the 1-2 was the icing on the cake. In all honesty I thought Adrian would get him because of his experience, but we helped out Lukey as much as we could, with whatever he needed or with line choices and he adapted really well. But obviously you’ve got to put it all together, and he did that so I’m pumped for him.
I’m also very happy for my dad, who puts in all the effort and work into that motorcycle behind the scenes, so to get the Best Presented award for the year is great.”
Lukey Luke – “I set out with the goal of second in the Naked Bikes and a top five in the Pro Twins, and I achieved both of those things. It was so much fun, now I’m addicted! I wonder what KTM will say when I tell them I want to go racing next year as well (laughs).
The KTM 1290 was awesome under brakes. I had so much confidence in that front end it was ridiculous, a couple of times I made big dives, and the thing just stayed so planted, I never pushed the front once – I think it’s a combination of the 1290’s ability, and all the stoppies I do! My feel for the front end is really good due to stunt riding, and my feel for sliding the bike is really good as well, so when the tyres went off it didn’t seem to bother me so much.
I set out to prove a point, and I think that point has been proven. I used to cop a lot of flak from mates who said I could only stunt ride and didn’t know how to ride a bike properly, but entering a national race and doing as well as I did, I think that will shut a few mouths up (laughs)!
Angus and Alan are fantastic guys, Alan over the last few months has given me tips and pointers on how to set up the 1290 for racing, because I was a bit out of my element there, and as far as the racing was concerned Angus was a wealth of knowledge. I did a day with him up at Sydney Motorsport Park a few weeks ago, and he showed me some lines, which definitely helped, and this weekend gave me a few pointers with racecraft, because I struggled at the start with Turn 1 traffic and I was a bit intimidated.
So it was great that I could help him in the points. We didn’t set out specifically to do that, it just came about that way. But then when it looked like he was going to win the title if I kept on coming second, that was very motivating for me, to help my fellow KTM family member to wrap up his title. It felt good that I could be a part of that, Angus is such a strong rider, and I learned a lot from him.”
For more information on KTM motorcycles visit www.ktm.com.au or www.facebook.com.KTMAustralia
Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship Pro-Twins – Nakedbikes final points: 1. Angus Reekie 375, 2. Adrian Pierpoint 373, 3. Darren Wilbow 118, 4. Luke Follachio 66, Rennie Scaysbrook 54.
