Billy Van Eerde wins first time out in KTM RC Cup at Sepang
Young KTM RC390 pilot Billy Van Eerde got his international career off to a flying start when he won Saturday’s third round of the KTM RC Cup at the famous Sepang circuit in Malaysia.
Van Eerde had to work his way clear of a persistent pack of young, KTM RC390-mounted desperadoes before slipping away to win by over two and a half seconds ahead of Malaysians M.Izam Ikmal Izamli and Ahmad Daniel Haiqal.
Making the feat truly spectacular is the fact that Ven Eerde did so after having just a half-hour practice session and another of qualifying to learn the track, and while competing against riders who had raced two RC Cup rounds there previously.
Van Eerde crashed out on the fourth lap of Sunday’s rain-affected second race, while trying to become familiar with the wet weather performance of tyres he’d never used previously – and while holding fifth place.
The RC Cup series, already established in Europe and the Americas, is capturing the hearts and imagination of the next generation of road racing champions, and Townsville-born Singleton rider Billy Van Eerde became its first Aussie representative.
The regional version, KTM RC Cup Asia brings the increasingly popular and now very international KTM RC Cup model to our part of the world, and is open to riders from all over Southeast Asia and Japan to compete aboard identical KTM RC 390 machines.
The RC390 is a sporty, LAMS-approved commuter with Moto3 World title-winning DNA coursing through its veins, and behind the scalpel-sharp looks lurks a design of pure function.
The KTM RC Cup bikes are set to empower future world champions from even more corners of the globe, and Van Eerde is hopeful of a return when the series continues in September.
Locally the model is setting pulses racing at across the country, where it is currently fourth in the standings of the Hi-Tec Batteries Australian Supersport 300cc Championship at the hands of Van Eerde.
Additionally, KTM also lead the ASC Shock Treatment 400 Supersport class thanks to Max Croker.
