Angus Reekie on his way to a commendable eighth place overall at Winton on the weekend. Image: Brian Dyer.

Angus Reekie predicted a month ago that it was possible crack the top ten in FX-Superbike on the V-twin KTM RC8R Racing Team bike, but it took only until the second round of the Formula Xtreme series at Victoria’s Winton Raceway on the weekend to back it up.

Reekie proved the KTM 1190 RC8R has much more than just a radical look as he continued his David versus Goliath story with three ninth place finishes for eighth overall on the day, bringing the distinctive orange bike into 10th place in the overall standings.

The 26-year-old, six-time Australian Supermoto Champion grabbed the attention of those in the know very early in the weekend when he sizzled around the twisty circuit to qualify the V-twin sixth fastest in a field of four-cylinder superbikes, many of which had a distinct horsepower advantage.

“I had a great qualifying,” said Reekie. “Put a good tyre on and rode a hottie actually to put it on the second row which was awesome, but I struggled a little with my conditioning and my speed on worn tyres. It’s taking a little while to get up to speed after 10 months off the bike.”

The 2011 Pro Thunder champion, Reekie was in the box seat in last year’s Pro Thunder title chase when a dirt bike accident ended his season and necessitated a shoulder reconstruction, but Reekie says it is now time for a new challenge.

“My speed was really good at times on the Winton track, but at race pace my arms pumped a few times and I had a couple of moments that shook me up, so I missed out on a few places,” he said.

“My starts were shocking so I had to come through, which is difficult at Winton – fortunately the bike is so good under brakes and into the corner.

“It was a positive weekend for us. We ended up with good points and cracked the top 10 which is what I wanted to do. We had people coming up and saying how good it was being the only V-twin in the field of 1000cc four-cylinders and it shows how good a bike the KTM really is.

“Of course I’d love to be up the pointy end battling but I have to remind myself to be realistic – we’re racing some very serious teams with big name riders and big testing schedules. We’re on a tiny budget for the year and we race the bike just how we buy it.

“A lot of people understand that and give us a lot of encouragement, so it’s nice to get the recognition. So, a good step forward for us and motivation to try to get a bit further up the front.”

The next round of the Formula Xtreme series takes place at Wakefield Park, Goulburn from 4-5 May.