KIWI RIDER DECEMBER 2017 VOL.2 | Page 90

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