KTM Motorsport Director Pit Beirer continues to fight to have more than four bikes in the field as early as MotoGP 2024: Gresini and LCR the only options?
KTM continues to show great interest in expanding the MotoGP project and equipping more than four riders with material in the future. KTM has been competing in MotoGP with the factory team since 2017 and has been equipping a customer team with material since 2019. The Austrians would like to have six bikes in the field, but this plan is not so easy to realise.
The simplest solution would be two additional grid slots, but MotoGP stakeholders reject this idea (for background). The two grid slots left vacant after Suzuki’s withdrawal will be reserved for one manufacturer.
But at the moment it is not foreseeable that a new manufacturer will enrich MotoGP. Neither Kawasaki nor BMW show any interest in a MotoGP commitment. A MotoGP return of Suzuki is also not an issue in the foreseeable future.
What possibilities KTM currently have in MotoGP
One alternative is for KTM to convince an existing team to switch brands. Since Ducati currently equips three customer teams, a switch of a Ducati team would be obvious. In practical terms, only Gresini is an option. An alternative would be LCR, because the performance of the Honda RC213V does not allow for consistently good results at the moment.
With factory riders Brad Binder and Jack Miller as well as the GasGas pairing of Pol Espargaro and Augusto Fernandez and Moto2 newcomer Pedro Acosta, KTM currently has five riders for four places. In addition, former champion Marc Marquez is also regularly linked to KTM.
“There’s not a lot of news at the moment,” remarks KTM Motorsport Director Pit Beirer, speaking to the official MotoGP site during the MotoGP weekend at Silverstone. “We are now competing with the regular riders again and we are now looking at how our riders are performing. No decisions have been made yet during the summer break,” the former motocrosser specified.
Is KTM working on a big surprise?
The fact is that KTM wants more bikes in MotoGP. “I can confirm that we are not stopping trying to get more grid positions and finding solutions for that,” Pit Beirer confirms, adding, “That doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Pedro’s promotion. We are talking to various teams. But there is no really good solution on the table for next season yet.”
Are Gresini and LCR potential KTM teams? “It’s still a long season and a lot can still happen in this paddock,” notes the KTM Motorsport Director, leaving it open in which direction it is currently leaning.