Features 2 Sep 2014

Profiled: Angus Reekie

Versatile racer on supermoto switch and road racing success.

Could a street-savvy KTM 1290 Super Duke R beat its race-bred rivals to the title of overall Pro-Twins champion in 2014? That’s the hope of long-time KTM rider Angus Reekie who is well on the way to achieving what many would consider a lofty goal.

2014 has been a landmark year for Reekie, whose results have shown the potential of KTM’s popular new nakedbike. The multi-talented rider has always had an affinity for the tarmac, though the bulk of his success in terms of outright titles is recognised during his dream run in Supermoto.

Like so many fellow riders, Reekie went from crawling to walking to riding by the tender age of two. Time spent learning the fundamentals served him well ahead of his first actual race which came at the age of 13.

“My first races were purely motocross and amcross,” explains Reekie. “I was doing all the New South Wales titles and Australian junior championships for a couple of years.”

His first experience in the supermoto discipline came in 2005, with Reekie discovering an immediate affinity. He notes 2006 as his first “real year” of supermoto, where he achieved a third place in the S1 championship. It was this early success that led him to switch his full focus to the sport which was still enjoying somewhat of a resurgence.

The easy-going New South Welshman shone in his formative years and and developed as the sport’s forthright talent with an impressive six Australian titles to his name.

Image: Keith Muir.

Image: Keith Muir.

“It was a really good run. We aimed to run two classes, the maximum we could, and we did that pretty much year in and year out,” he recalls.

Reekie’s long-time involvement with KTM – he is the New South Wales and Western Australia territory manager – saw doors open to road racing when the brand brought on board its anticipated Superbike – the RC8R.

“Supermoto had probably slowed down a bit by then,” he continued. “We had a good helping hand through KTM and we wanted to get the brand name out there as much as possible. And that’s why we looked at other avenues as to where we could go.

“I definitely had always wanted to road my leg over a road bike but my father had stopped me for years and years. But once we had done the FX series for that first year I knew I really liked it, from the tracks to the racing and I wanted to be a part of it.

“From then on that was our goal, and I worked really hard to get the opportunity to go racing.”

Reekie shared in the production class spoils at the 2010 Phillip Island 6-Hour on a media demo KTM, an experience that heightened his desire to go road racing.

“We did win the Pro-Twins class the first time out, which was great,” he adds. “But I had a bad run with injury for a few years and we never really were able to complete full seasons. Last year we had some good success on the RC8, with podiums in the Prostock class. We’d developed the bike well and the package was competitive.”

2014 brought about further change for Reekie, who saw an avenue to showcase the new KTM 1290 in a track environment.

Image: Keith Muir.

Image: Keith Muir.

“We decided to jump on the Nakedbike purely because it was a new, fresh and anticipated model for us,” he said. “We were bringing out a hell of a lot more of these bikes than we ever have of the RC8s, and we just thought it would be a good opportunity to showcase what the bike could actually do on the track.”

Reekie runs undefeated in the Nakedbike ranks thus far, and is eyeing the aforementioned goal of overall Pro-Twins winner come season end.

“The main goal for us this year is to take out the overall Pro-Twins/Nakedbike championship at the end of the year,” he said. “Every track we go to there is always someone new there on a superbike or a bike more suited for racing than what we’re on, but we’re quite competitive.”

As well as having a blast, Reekie believes the decision to take the new 1290 racing is paying dividends, with plenty of interest in the bike and the brand’s performance parts arm.

“It’s really good, and it’s fantastic that KTM is on-board with it,” he said. “The KTM is a significantly cheap program to run, and the feedback that we’ve got, and the attention at the track, from customers and fellow riders, has been really good.

“The bike is faultless, we haven’t had to do anything to it all year. We run it as you can buy it with the KTM Powerparts on it, and that’s all you really need.”

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