How good is the KTM RC16 compared to the Ducati GP24 and GP23? Tech3 boss Herve Poncharal has observed a change in perception from the outside
The Ducati has been considered the most competitive bike in the MotoGP field for some time. Ducati has won the World Championship titles in the MotoGP manufacturers’ standings without interruption since 2020. It has also been unbeaten in the team standings since 2021, although the 2023 World Championship title was won by the Pramac team rather than the factory team. Ducati factory rider Francesco Bagnaia became world champion in both 2022 and 2023, with Ducati riders (Bagnaia, Martin, Bezzecchi) even making up the top three in the 2023 World Championship
Is Ducati’s strength mainly down to the bike? Or is it primarily the riders who make the difference? KTM has established itself as the first Ducati pursuer in recent years. The Austrians celebrated the runner-up World Championship title in the team classification in 2022 and the runner-up World Championship title in the manufacturers’ classification in 2023. KTM is again second in the current manufacturers’ standings in 2024, just ahead of Aprilia.
How much is KTM still missing from Ducati? According to Tech3 Team Principal Herve Poncharal, not much, although he attributes this not least to one factor from his team. “I think the RC16 is really very close to the Ducati. If it is at all behind in comparison, then not by much”,
“What you also have to consider when looking at the Ducati’s strength,” says Poncharal, “is the strength of riders like Bagnaia, Bastianini, Martin and Marquez. What I want to say is that if ‘Pecco’ crashes, then Martin wins. If Martin crashes, then ‘Pecco’ wins. If ‘Pecco’ and Martin have problems, then Marquez is there, and then Bezzecchi.
This is not (yet) the case in the KTM program, where there are “only” four instead of eight riders, as the Tech3 boss points out: “I don’t know the reason. But although Brad [Binder] has had a really fantastic start to the season, there is only one rider at the front with the KTM at the moment. And that is Pedro.”
Poncharal thus continues his already well-founded praise of Pedro Acosta. “More than the level of the package, for me it’s the level of the riders that makes the difference here,” he says, but immediately admits with a grin: “That’s my impression anyway. But I’m not on the bike.”
In fact, Poncharal was an active motorcycle racer himself in the early years of his career, before he reoriented himself and turned to team management. He founded the Tech3 racing team in 1990 together with Guy Coulon and Bernard Martignac. That was 34 years ago. The team has been active in the premier class of the motorcycle world championship since 2001. With Pedro Acosta, the team is currently more successful than ever before
