Ben Kelley signs with Trail Jesters KTM Racing
Wednesday, January 31, 2018 | 10:00 AM
Trail Jesters announced today that Ben Kelley has signed with KTM and will return as a member of Trail Jesters KTM Racing offroad team for 2018. Kelley will race a factory prepared KTM 250 XC-F in the Grand National Cross Country XC2 250 Pro class and AMA National Enduro Championship NE1 Pro class. Kelley will also compete in select National Extreme Enduros aboard a KTM 250 XC-W TPI.
"Ben is a versatile offroad rider and we look forward to his continued development and growth as he goes after the top step of the podium in GNCC, National Enduro and Extreme Enduro events in 2018," said Antti Kallonen, Off-Road Racing Manager, KTM.
Kelley began the 2017 season injured and for the first five months had to ride himself back into form and still finished a solid 5th in GNCC XC2 250 Pro class. When in New England Kelley won races across a wide variety of formats including JDay Offroad GP, NETRA Hare Scrambles, JDay Offroad Sprint Enduro and NY Offroad GP. At the national level Ben scored top 10 finishes in events like Tennessee Knockout, Tough Like RORR, Full Gas Sprint Enduro and AMA National Enduro. As a member of the 2017 AMA U.S. ISDE team, Kelley took home a Gold Medal, 2nd place in the C1 Class Championship and was a member of the 3rd place Club Team at the 92nd running of the "Six Days" in Brieve, France.
"We are thrilled that Ben Kelley will be with us in 2018. We're going to challenge Ben as he continues to grow as an off-road racer at the national and international level. I am also very pleased that we can continue our partnership with KTM as they provide rider support of the highest caliber for Trail Jesters KTM Racing." said Ross Mauri, the founder of Trail Jesters.
The 2018 Trail Jesters KTM Racing team will have a five-rider roster. Joining Ben Kelley will be New England stand outs Jason Klammer, Taylor Johnston, Simon Johnson and Owen Giese.
- Jason Klammer - 2017 JDay Offroad Sprint Enduro Grand Champion - KTM 250 XC
- Taylor Johnston - 2017 JDay Offroad Sprint Enduro Women's Champion - KTM 250 EXC TPI
- Simon Johnson - 2017 JDay Offroad Sprint Enduro 2nd Overall & NETRA Hare Scrambles 3rd Overall - KTM 250 XC-F
- Owen Giese - 2017 GNCC A250 10th Overall - KTM 250 XC-F
Trail Jesters KTM Racing continues their winning ways and working relationship with our local KTM dealer, Edelmann Sales in Troy, N.Y.
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