Triumph has made an announcement they are about to go dirt biking, and have lined up MX legend Ricky Carmichael, and five-time World Enduro champ Ivan Cervantes to help them transition from road onto dirt.
Perhaps they're inspired by KTM's growth, but it is quite the powerplay to go into a very competitive and crowded market, where it's very hard to choose between one manufacturer and another, in the 450 market.
All the Japanese factories are represented, plus the KTM/Husqvarna/Gas Gas group, and other smaller players, like Fantic.
Triumph have moved into other sectors and taken big bites out of the traditional market leaders, ADV bikes, being a prime example. BMW moved into the four-cylinder superbike market and had significant sales success, so it's possible.
Triumph CEO, Nick Bloor, says, 'Today’s announcement marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Triumph brand, which everyone at Triumph is incredibly excited to be part of. We are 100% committed to making a long-lasting impact in this highly competitive and demanding world, with a single-minded ambition to deliver a winning motorcycle line-up for a whole new generation of Triumph riders.'
Triumph add. 'This will be [a] landmark moment for Triumph and the MX and Enduro racing world with an all new Triumph factory race programme, and a commitment to top tier championship racing in both Motocross and Enduro series.'
There's no word yet on when the bikes will be shown, or released, but if we had to guess, it'll be around the traditional Euro trade show time of early November.
Is it too early to be thinking about a Triumph team in AFT Singles?