Moto2: Aegerter on KTM for sole Kiefer entry
After the collapse of talks to sell the team, Kiefer has announced it will continue in Moto2 next season but scale down to a single entry for Dominique Aegerter, using KTM machinery.
David Pickworth and his investors had been negotiating to buy the team even before the tragic loss of Stefan Kiefer at Sepang in October and planned to run Aegerter alongside Sandro Cortese, while switching from Suter to KTM.
But the Pickworth deal has fallen through and with it Cortese's chances of returning to the team, now headed by Stefan's brother Jochen Kiefer. However, the KTM supply has been salvaged.
"First of all we would like to express our gratitude for the great sympathy for Stefan 's death," Jochen Kiefer said. "It was truly overwhelming how many people were close to us in this difficult time - many thanks to all.
"2018 unfortunately started with another setback. The deal with David Pickworth, who wanted to buy the team, unfortunately feel through. The negotiations and discussions took a long time, but in the end, Mr Pickworth had to cancel, which was a pity as it would have been nice if we could have continued with two riders.
"We are very, very sorry for Sandro Cortese. We have worked with Sandro already in 2015 and had a good time with him. The signs for a further successful cooperation with him were very positive with the takeover. We wish him every success in his future career.
"Personally, I have received a lot of support during this difficult time and we are also very sorry that, because of the circumstances, not everyone could keep their place in the team.
"We are glad that we can finally start again after the long wait and look forward to the new challenge. "
Kiefer ran Aegerter and Tarran Mackenzie on Suter machinery last season, but were stripped of a race victory at Misano last season due to the use of oil 'outside the FIM Moto2 specifications' in qualifying.
CBGM will be the other team joining KTM this year, which won the last three races of its rookie campaign.
