“Okay it’s go time,” I thought to myself while sitting on the line. I started on the 10th row and only two quads from the extreme outside start-spot. I pretty much couldn’t have been in a worse spot, especially for a mud race. Looking at the hundreds of riders that were lined up ahead of me had me second guessing that mid pack finish I was after. “Oh well, I’ll just ride my best and maybe I can pass a bunch of people with this big bad 525,” I thought to myself.
Prior to riding the quad to tech inspection and to the start-line, I’ve never swung a leg over a KTM 525 but nonetheless there I was about to race one at a national. To add fuel to the fire I’ve never tried a dead engine start, much less practiced with the quad I was about to race. Strange enough, even with all this, for some reason I never got nervous while sitting there. Maybe I was too thrilled with the whole opportunity to get nervous about it.
Here’s something I didn’t think of. When the starter waved the flag the roar of everyone’s engines firing at once was so loud I couldn’t tell if mine fired on the first stab of the start button or not, especially with the 525’s stock exhaust system, which barks at a respectable 94 dB. I kept pushing the button while I slipped the clutch out. Not hearing a thing I just waited for it to go. As soon as the KTM seemed to lunge a bit I hammered down. This probably isn’t how you’re supposed to start a GNCC, but hey it’s how it went down for me. Luckily I still salvaged a decent start by weaving through many riders in my class. Thinking back, I don’t’ know how I did that while being roosted with gobs of blinding mud, I got lucky I guess.
It wasn't that great of a start, but thanks to a few winding turns before the woods section, some old school TT skills and plenty of KTM 525 power, I was able to slip into a mid pack start in my class.
I found myself about halfway through the 33 riders in my class. As we tucked into a single file line through the first woods section I got a chance to scoop the five pounds of roost from my helmet visor and rip a tear-off from my goggles. As we exited the woods section I opened up the throttle and effortlessly passed three riders before we tucked back into another woods section. It was at this moment that I realized I was in for a great day! I had an obvious advantage; the snappy power on my KTM was no match for the competition.
The only difference between the 450 and the 525 is the cylinder. Both engines include a single overhead cam, four valves and snap to life with an 11:1 compression ratio. The 525 is actually 510cc. Only the bore on the cylinder is bigger, but man-oh-man does it make a difference. This thing really ripped!
