Analysis: KTM’s MotoGP project stands defiant amid company chaos

Spare a thought for the hundreds of members of KTM’s work force who faced a miserable festive period waiting to know the futures of their jobs and when they could expect to be paid.

But the show must go on, as they say, and in Austria KTM must stand by its motorsport division’s policy of ‘Ready To Race’. On Thursday, last year’s runner-up manufacturer launched its 2025 campaign, revealing the unified livery it has across its factory team and its more closely-aligned works-supported satellite crew Tech3.

KTM shielded its riders from being subject to questions about the brand’s ongoing insolvency proceedings, but it knew there was no hiding from the matter and presented motorsport boss Pit Beirer to face the media.

Since 20 December, KTM has stood firm that it would be on the grid for the 2025 season. Rumours of a development freeze (which, with 2027’s rules reset coming, may not be majorly impactful) and of its star rider Pedro Acosta perhaps already looking for a way out for 2026 have only added to the uncertainty.

But Beirer, referring to the crucial three dates in the calendar that KTM’s future has hinged on and hinges on still as “Dakar stages” (a not-so-subtle nod to the fact that, amid all the chaos, KTM is still a winning brand, having taken victory in the famous rally-raid earlier this month) addressed the situation with the kind of transparent leadership needed at a time like this.

“It was really a rough winter, but we were fighting altogether to keep this company what it is, what it means to us: it’s our passion, it’s our life,” Beirer said. 

“I’ve been here for 20 years and I didn’t come here one day to work: I came here to work with all these thousands of colleagues on a dream, to work for this motorcycle factory.

“And we are all fighting with everything we have to keep it this way. And that’s downsizing everything to the size that we can go maybe a bit slimmer and be strong. But it will still be more than 4000 employees here in Mattighofen. And that’s what we are fighting for.

“It was a difficult period for the whole company and it’s not over. If the 25 February goes good, for sure things are not super easy the next day. But I can guarantee you we have a super, super strong plan going into the future for this company and that’s not a question of one year or two years, and also not one year or two years of racing. We want to have KTM here forever, including the race department.”

KTM 'fight' against financial issues

KTM will face a creditors vote on its restructuring plan - where it hopes its offer of 30% repayment of debts totalling €2.2 billion - will be accepted on 25 February, just a few days before the 2025 MotoGP season begins in Thailand.

With testing beginning next week in Malaysia, Pedro Acosta, Brad Binder, Maverick Vinales, Enea Bastianini and the entire racing department will hit the Sepang circuit with a cloud still hanging over their heads. Should the vote not go KTM’s way - though indications are that there is cautious optimism within the camp - they will have to start the 2025 season not knowing what their futures hold.

That’s a hell of a task facing management within the MotoGP division. When questioned by Crash.net about this, however, Beirer was steadfast in his belief in the group he has.

“That’s the good thing, having such a strong team here at home and on the race track, and having these fantastic four boy, all of them have been here and believe me, the last thing I have to do is motivate them,” he said.

“They are motivated like you cannot imagine and they are part of us. Together we want to show up as a strong team and perform. We cannot influence the big time, but we can focus on our jobs and on us, and do a good job in the race department. I feel we are very well prepared and the riders are ready to shine.

“He [Pedro] is with us, he has a contract with us. We spent time together twice in this period, he was here alone one time with his manager and just the other week we had all four riders together in the Red Bull training centre. They have everything they need to perform this year: the team is there, the bike is there, and we’re going to go for it. That’s 100% clear. Man, they are motivated like they have never seen them before. Just wait to see them soon.”

The irony of this crisis is that it comes at a point in KTM’s MotoGP tenure where it has arguably the strongest factory-satellite rider line-up on the grid. All four of its riders are world champions in the lower classes and all bar Acosta have won multiple grands prix in MotoGP.

Pedro Acosta's KTM future questioned

And then there is the Acosta factor. Nine podiums across sprints and grands prix in 2024 was the kind of form expected of the young Spaniard in his debut year. While he came away without a win, it wasn’t for a lack of trying - though his closest opportunity in Japan going away from him due to a crash was somewhat indicative of his season as a whole.

Unsurprisingly, the uncertainty in KTM’s racing future has firmly put the spotlight on Acosta’s future. Ducati is said to have been sniffing around, while the 20-year-old has even been linked to Valentino Rossi’s outfit. This was dispelled by VR46 earlier this week.

Acosta, having won the Moto3 title in his debut year and Moto2 in his second season is considered by all as a generational talent in the making. A KTM-grown rider, it’s not hyperbolic to suggest that the future of the marque has rested on his shoulders for a long time now. That point is even more true now.

On Thursday following KTM’s launch, Acosta’s response to the situation was one of maturity, carving him out as the kind of on-track leadership figure the brand will be looking for as it navigates its way through these uncertain waters.

“We are only quite focused on being fast on track,” he said. “In the end, it’s the biggest help we can give to everyone if we are winning.”

KTM 'No b****** policy'

Beirer says the current restructuring proceedings have highlighted that racing remains an important part of KTM’s business strategy. At no point in his media availability did he suggest that a winding down of the MotoGP project was something even in the offing. That, of course, won’t be in KTM’s hands right now. But there is a clear confidence in the future of the project, with Beirer confirming that it is in the planning stages of its 2027 machine.

The timing, as Beirer also pointed out, of KTM’s financial crisis has actually been pretty fortunate. MotoGP will put an engine freeze into effect from the first round in 2025 lasting until the end of 2026. The KTM engine is a pretty potent one, with the bike holding the top speed record in MotoGP currently.

All of its 2025 parts were budgeted for well in advance of the worst of KTM’s financial problems, meaning it heads into testing in a pretty good shape. If it survives into 2026, little is likely to change on this year’s bikes given the major rules reset coming for the following season.

And based on what we saw in testing late in 2024, the 2025 RC16 has provided a good foundation for KTM to try to significantly chip into the 395-point deficit Ducati stole over it across last season in the constructors’ championship battle.

Taking over as team manager within the factory KTM garage is junior category kingmaker Aki Ajo, who, according to Binder, has a “no bullshit policy. Where that will help KTM this year will be his push to simplify various areas of the racing, especially as last year it seemed as if KTM spent much of the season chasing its tail.

“I think in MotoGP, of course, the technology is a big part and you cannot simply fight everything too much,” Ajo said when asked by Crash if simplifying aspect of the programme was what KTM needed to be successful this season.

“But I think that’s correct, in the points where you can keep it simple you really need to focus on keeping it simple. I think our guys, my ex-riders and current riders, are even laughing sometimes when I always repeat the same things: ‘keep it simple, focus on the right things, etc’. But in any case, I think in every work - and especially in racing - those things have to be kept in mind. What I personally feel, our technical package is also really good.

“And I think it’s always important, at least in this way, is to keep it simple - try to get the maximum from your package out. And I don’t mean only from the bike, I mean also the people, riders, everything and try to understand which areas where we are strong and not push the time always just to get something new. We need to understand what is really important and keep things simple.”

What should be encouraging for KTM following its launch was how its riders spoke about the bike. Dispensed with were the usual, vague, ‘let’s wait and see’ comments. Vinales said he feels he has a bike he can fight with on track; Binder believes the actual gap to Ducati isn’t as big as it seems, while Bastianini was adamant that KTM must stick to the identity of the bike it has now and not chase creating a Desmosedici clone.

The foundations, it seems, are strong for KTM as it enters season nine of its MotoGP journey - a year past former CEO Stefan Pierer’s original target of fighting for a title within eight years, and two removed from the last time it won a grand prix at the 2022 Thai GP.

There are still hurdles to surmount for the parent company as it tries to survive and uncertain times for the race team. But through adversity often comes triumph in sport. With the strongest line-up it has ever had, a seemingly competitive package and the motivation that fighting for survival brings, KTM comes into the 2025 MotoGP season standing defiant…