After losing the 125 Outdoor National Motocross championship by just seven points last year to teammate Grant Langston (and having the final round cancelled, on top of it), you might think KTM’s Ryan “Ryno” Hughes might call it a career (he has retired once before). Instead, Ryno is already getting ready for the Outdoor Nationals starting this May by training and riding in the AMA’s Grand National Cross Country series beginning February 1.
Apparently, Ryno will campaign a KTM 250 two-stroke against the nation’s top off-road racers during the first three rounds of the GNCC series. We wouldn’t be surprised to see him win one or more of those races. He is one of the most versatile off-road racers in the United States (proven by his domination of several of the four-stroke MX Nationals last year, and his campaign of the European MX GPs a few years ago). Ryno is a big fan favorite here in the United States. He has had more than his share of bad luck in his career, and there are plenty of fans pulling for him to take an outdoor title in 2004. There has been some speculation that he will move up to the 250 class to take on Ricky Carmichael and Kevin Windham, but we have heard nothing official from KTM on this subject.
