Jonny Walker and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing part ways
KTM and Jonny Walker have decided to put an end to their relationship after eight seasons of working together – what lies ahead for the Brit is still unknown.
KTM has just announced that their agreement with extreme enduro star Jonny Walker has concluded following a mutual agreement. According to the Austrian manufacturer, a re-structuring within the team, which is linked to the changes in the enduro program over recent seasons, has left them without an option to retain Walker for 2021.
Jonny joined the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team in 2011 and quickly found success with clinching two Erzbergrodeo wins in a row in 2012 and 2013, before stepping up his game and claiming the win at the mighty Red Bull Romaniacs in 2015. Together with another win at the Iron Giant he claimed further victories at Hell’s Gate, the Red Bull 111 Megawatt and The Tough One.
During the last few years, Jonny has been hit by bad luck with multiple injuries. The most difficult to overcome was the double wrist injury that he suffered at the Megawatt in 2018, but that hasn’t slowed him down from securing numerous podium finishes at the WESS and SuperEnduro races since then.
“Firstly, we’d like to say a big thank you to Jonny for everything he has achieved with KTM Factory Racing.” Said race team manager Fabio Farioli. “We had some good times over the years and some incredible results – including wins at some of the toughest events on the hard enduro calendar as well as in the SuperEnduro World Championship.
“He has been an important part of our team and has been integral to our ongoing success. Despite our best efforts we were unable to negotiate a deal to keep Jonny on the team. We wish him all the very best for the future.”
Jonny’s take: “Hopefully we can be back for 2021. We’ll get some stuff sorted out because I'm not finished, I still hungry to win more races, I hope that SuperEnduro and the Extreme races go ahead, and who knows, maybe some races in America. Finally, I would like to thank KTM and Farioli for all the help and my sponsors Red Bull, POD and Leatt who will continue to help me in 2021.”
