By Jim Kimball/Racer X Online....

Now in his tenth year as an AMA Pro, Michael Sleeter s career and life are taking on new responsibilities. Not only has the 29 year old established his own team, but he has recently been married, and is expecting his first child with his wife, Sarah. While racing the West Coast SX series on a 450, with teammate Sean Borkenhagen on the Lites bike, Sleeter has also been hard at work developing the all-new KTM 350SX-F among other new KTMs. With the West Coast Supercross series soon going on hiatus, we had a chance to catch up with Michael as he relaxed in his KTM Factory Service/One Industries Team pits.


Racer X: Michael, let s start out with your team: Although you have been aligned with KTM for some time, this year it s different.
Michael Sleeter: Yeah, this year has been a lot different. I ve been the main test rider for North America for a couple years; I share that responsibility with the guys over in Europe, where they have quite a few in that area. But over here I m the sole guy doing all of the development - especially for the all-new 350; actually, all their new 2011 stuff. They also like me to be racing just to have a presence and be credible to the company. There s a lot of stuff that s changed with my racing program for 2010; one of them is that I truly started a team with the help of my wife, Sarah. I could have easily just done it on my own out of my van as in the past; having a great bike and just racing for fun - keeping it what it was. But now I thought I d invest a little bit of time and effort into what I have - the KTM Factory Services/One Industries Team. This team stems from KTM s in-house motor and suspension development. I took it upon myself to market and advertise that since we don t really have a title sponsor besides One Industries and FMF.

How difficult is it to be a team owner and racer, and a full-time test rider?
It s tough. My results show this year that I m not riding to my potential and it upsets me. I m riding well, but I m not racing that well - just because I ve only been out to the supercross test track practicing six times this year. I ve really been slammed with finishing the final production run for 2011, which is my main goal and my pain purpose at KTM. Along with that responsibility, I m the KTM Amateur Team Manager now. But as I said, this race team is self-inflicted; they didn t ask me to do this. I did this on my behalf because I felt we needed a satellite team from KTM. NCY/KTM out of Escondido, California, supports my Lites rider, Sean Borkenhagen, with bikes. He is not in any way, shape, or form supported by KTM directly. He pays for his entire product from Factory Services. Actually, he even pays for his own entries and whatnot. I just basically give him a mentorship, and help him out what with what we can with parts. I have a small parts budget and it has held through so far.

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