This definitely seems to be the week of surprising news in the Canadian motocross industry. First we had the Jeremy Medaglia and GDR Honda Team signing earlier this week, and now perhaps in even more shocking current events, yesterday Andy White and KTM parted ways.
As many of you know, Andy and the KTM brand have been synonymous with each other for over a decade. Together the Orange Brigade rose from its modest beginnings to one of the leading manufacturers in Canada. Over the years Andy has taken the KTM race team over many hurdles, however in 2014 it all came together with Kaven Benoit winning the MX2 Championship and Tyler Medaglia finishing an incredible third in the MX1 series.
They say nothing lasts forever. While this is true in most cases, the Andy White and KTM combination certainly seemed like something we’d continue to see for a long time. With Andy moving on, JSR will now be taking over the duties of Race Director, however we’ll have to wait for the official word from KTM Canada. With JSR’s experience, both on and off the track, we’re sure he’ll be up to the challenge of filling the massive orange shoes that Andy now leaves behind.
We contacted Andy this morning for a comment. “I feel really proud of the work that KTM and I did together over the years. At times it wasn’t easy, but as a brand we persevered and brought quality and professionalism to the track every weekend. This past season was especially gratifying. After having a major sponsor pull out we all pulled together and not only continued to go racing, but we won an MX2 Championship and finished third in the MX1 class.
I really want to thank everyone at KTM for being like my second family for all of these years. It was a pleasure working for them and seeing the brand grow by leaps and bounds over the last ten years. Now it’s time to move on to new endeavours and new adventures. This industry is my home and I can’t wait to see what’s next.”
Well, let us say thank-you Andy for everything you’ve accomplished over the last many years. At the track or away from the track Andy has always been forthright with the media and could always be counted on for his loyal perspective. It will be interesting to see what challenges Andy takes on next. Whatever they are you can be rest assured that he will do it with the purpose and rectitude that we’ve seen from him for the last decade.