Running in the Superlite class, the HKR Evo2
is a really interesting bike, which is the brain-
child of Markus Krämer an ex-employee of KTM
Motorcycles. Krämer worked for KTM Power Sports
and now produces a single cylinder supermono
racing machine based around KTM’s 690 Duke
engine but in a bespoke chassis that’s designed
to be a turn-key racing or track bike. There’s no
messing around stripping a road bike and buying
fairings, this is a race bike out of the crate.
Why compete with the Krämer in the Superlite
class? O’Connor, himself a twice former NZ F3
champion, explains, “I like Supermonos. I won a
couple of championships on a Ducati Supermono,
but at the time we didn’t know if it would be
competitive – it was. In the Superlite class, the
three-cylinder 450s are good but we think the 690
single will have a good balance of nimble handling,
high corner speed and the punch needed to get
back up to speed quickly out of the corners”.
19-year-old Stroud won the 2016 Superlite
title and is looking to take the title once again
aboard the HKR Evo2. His bike for the season
certainly has pedigree. This particular machine
won the European Supermono Championship
with Lukas Wimmer aboard, but found its way
to NZ thanks to O’Connor’s ties with Krämer;
they worked together at KTM in Austria. So,
the bike was shipped to NZ pretty much how it
finished the European Championship season,
except it had been pulled apart for shipping.
The Helicraft effort is a real Kiwi affair. Team owner
Rod Price runs Helicraft in Wanaka, and Christchurch
Helicopters (hence the McCaw involvement)
donated hangar/workshop space to prep the
bike once it arrived in Christchurch. It’s all word of
mouth and the result of a bunch of good buggers
being passionate about racing motorcycles.
The team spent the morning after the bike
unveiling prepping the machine in the hangar at
Christchurch Helicopters before heading to the
Mike Pero Motorsport Park for some shakedown
laps to give Stroud a feel for his new bike. Check
out the video to see what he has to say about
his new bike and to see it fire up for the first
time on NZ soil. We’ll be covering the HKR in
comprehensive detail in an upcoming issue.
90KIWI RIDER
Jacob Stroud happy with his new Helicraft
Racing Krämer HKR Evo2