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KTM'S WALKER WINS THE TOUGH ONE'S LITTLE BROTHER

published at 26.11.2012 / created by Marcia Hill

Jonny Walker, KTM’s extreme Enduro talent from the UK added another trophy to his growing collection at the weekend with a victory in the Tough One’s Little Brother in the notorious quarry in the Nantmawr Quarry, Shropshire, UK.

The event is billed as a taste of things to come in the main “Tough One” Extreme Enduro in January 2013 and it was Walker’s first outing in the quarry on a weekend when the region also expected extreme weather conditions. He had planned to hone his skills at the location in anticipation of competition from big name riders like the UK’s Graham Jarvis. But this was a day when the sun came out on the greasy and slippery condition and Walker took on the best and won.

His pre-race strategy was to follow the very experienced Jarvis for a few laps to learn the course and then to try and make a break. But by the second lap Walker decided he had taken enough of Graham's roost in the muddy conditions and took the lead with a fresh pair of goggles. Lapping at around 11-12 minutes, Walker pulled a cushion of just over one minute and then news came through that Jarvis had bent his front disc and was having brake problems.

Walker could now ease off and concentrate on maintaining a safe lead. After an hour, Paul Bolton slipped past Jarvis into second and got within two minutes of Walker, who then make his one and only fuel stop at a cost of just 15 seconds. He was able to consolidate his lead in the last hour, especially after Bolton, still in second place, ran into problems when his tire came off the rim and he was forced to withdraw. He then had an almost three minute lead over Jarvis in the final lap and carried the advantage with his KORR KTM 300 EXC to the finish line.

Jonny Walker: "I expected a big battle with Graham (Jarvis) here today and I'm sure without his brake problems I would have had to work much harder. I felt much better today than I have for a while and the two hours went really quickly and without any incidents. I'm now looking forward to the more extreme version in January knowing what to expect."

Julian Stevens (Team manager): "It was a great practice run today for Jonny (Walker) and good to finish the UK season how he started, with a win. Part of the reason to ride here today was to get our bike dialed in and ready for January's Tough One. Jonny reported that its working great and we won't change anything accept the tires! Now we switch back to Endurocross mode as the first round of the Indoor World Championship starts in two weeks in Lodz, Poland."

Results
1. Jonny Walker (GB), KTM
 2. Graham Jarvis (GB), Husaberg 
3. Alex Wigg (UK), Gas Gas