News: Short is on KTM

KTM, the brand that dominated the 2010 MX World Championships has announced at its headquarters in Mattighofen, Austria that it has secured the services of American racer Andrew Short for the Red Bull KTM factory team to compete in the USA from the 2011 season.

Short, who raced with the winning team to secure the MX of Nations title for the USA this month in Thunder Valley, Colorado will be part of the team lineup under the guiding hand of one of the sports most distinguished team managers, Roger DeCoster. DeCoster was also the man behind the USA's successful title at the MXoN. Short's selection to represent the USA at the MXoN underlines his status as one of the finest riders of his nation.

While selection for Team USA was an obvious highlight for Andrew in 2010, he also finished third overall in the AMA Nationals and came back after injury to finish strongly in the SX competition, including being on the podium a number of times.

Andrew (Shorty) Short will ride for KTM in the SX and MX Open class competition in the USA and will be a factory teammate to KTM's Mike Alessi and MX2 world champion Marvin Musquin in the national MX competition. In addition, Ken Roczen, also new to the Red Bull KTM factory team in 2011, will, like Musquin, compete in the Supercross. After the SX, the young German rider Roczen will return to Europe to ride for the KTM factory team in the World Championship GP series.
  
So there's going to be a lot of news in this terrible excuse for a blog, and my take on it. I'm going to start off with yesterday's breaking news (kind of an oxymoron, right?) of KTM signing Andrew Short. Now, I have never met Shorty, but he seems like a wicked nice guy, which is going to make this very difficult and also going to make a lot of people hate me......I think Short has no desire at all to win. This is a guy who pulled practically every holeshot all year, only to go back in the pack, sometimes out of the top five, by the end of the moto. I don't use the word fade because honestly, I think Short's fitness is on point. His style and posture on the bike don't really change throughout the moto, which is an indicator that he is not really tired. I also think he's a good rider, the guy has won before, so we know he can do it. So why doesn't he win? If you have the fitness, speed, and starts, there is no reason not to be winning regularly. You can argue that Dungey is the second Coming on a motorcycle (either a reference to Jesus or Carmichael, take your pick),  seriously, I just think Short doesn't have the burning desire to win. Guy just gets passed and says "Oh, I'm sorry I was in your way, just go right by, I won't be a bother". Seriously, when have you ever seen Short pass a guy back? It doesn't happen. I recall hearing David Bailey make some argument like this a couple of years ago about all the guys on the Honda team (Short included), and now I know what he was talking about. My point in all of this? People are wondering why Honda didn't re-sign Short, but it is no surprise to me at all. KTM might be a powerhouse next year with DeCoster, so maybe Short will kill it there and prove me to be some dumb BROtocross prick.