Alberta teenager Braeden Ortt, who finished third overall in the MotoAmerica KTM RC Cup, came within .008 seconds of claiming the title in the KTM RC Cup World Championship held at Britain’s Silverstone Circuit October 2-4. Featuring 24 riders from 10 different nations, the event would crown a champion based on finishes in two eight-lap races around the 3.7 km course.
Following morning qualifying, Ortt, still struggling with the effects of a broken hand suffered during practice for the final MotoAmerica RC Cup event in New Jersey, found himself starting Saturday’s race from 16th place on the grid. A well-executed race saw the 15 year old finish in third place, less than half a second behind the race winner.
Starting from 14th place on the grid on Sunday, Ortt and his North America teammate Hayden Shultz took turns leading the race, with Ortt in the lead coming into the last corner where he was overtaken by eventual race winner and 2015 KTM RC Cup World Champion Dijm Ulrich. Ortt’s second place finish, just .008 seconds behind the winner (only .866 of a second separated the top ten finishers), combined with his third place Saturday finish gave him third overall in the KTM RC Cup finale.
“Instincts kicked in and I completely abandoned my plan,” said Ortt, who had formulated a plan to execute during the races. “What I didn’t plan for was getting stuffed in the very last corner. I thought I won so I was super pumped. That was a bit of a disappointment, but I can’t complain about two podiums and third overall in the World Championship.”
With his third place overall finish in the 2015 KTM RC Cup World Finals, Braeden will receive a KTM RC 390 for the 2016 race season.
More information on the KTM RC Cup World Finals can be found online at http://www.ktmrccup.com/int/rc-world-cup-final/, while race fans can keep up to date with Braeden at http://www.braedenorttracing.com.
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