Dovi and KTM? 'We want to keep all 4 riders' - Beirer

The only way Andrea Dovizioso or anyone else would be able to join KTM's MotoGP project next season is if one of the current riders turns down an offer to remain.

Recent rumours have linked Ducati-star Dovizioso with the Austrian factory, but in an interview with Crash.net KTM motorsports director Pit Beirer made clear: "All four riders will get a proposal for next year… Our priority is to keep the team exactly like it is."

The coronavirus-delayed 2020 season will see the factory Red Bull KTM team spearheaded by Pol Espargaro for a fourth year, with rookie Brad Binder joining as his team-mate. The satellite Tech3 squad will also receive the latest spec RC16s and run Miguel Oliveira alongside another rookie, Iker Lecuona…

Crash.net:

Dani Pedrosa seems to have been impressed with the job Pol has been doing, saying on Spanish TV 'the first time I rode the KTM, I told the mechanic: Pol is going fast'…

Pit Beirer:

I think it's not a secret that we are all here in KTM great fans and in love with Pol. Because he always has put in that little extra.

Sometimes we had a difficult bike out there and he still gave everything to bring a result. So I think from that side we respect a lot the work Pol has put into this project from the beginning.

And then by pure lap times, Dani was also impressed in the Malaysia and Qatar tests at how consistent Pol could be, doing a really good average for many, many laps. Not one highlight lap, but it looks like we could really go faster in race speed.

Pol is doing a fantastic job for our project and having that really hot guy out there, pushing it to the limit on one side, and then having Dani Pedrosa in the background who makes the steps a bit more calmly, with a bit less pressure, because he doesn’t need to race on the weekend. That combination is very strong at the moment.

For us it's definitely cool to have both of these guys involved in the project.

Crash.net:

With that in mind, is keeping Pol your top priority for 2021?

Pit Beirer:

The headline if you like is that is we feel a strong family spirit in KTM and now, in this difficult moment, even if all the motorcycle industry is under pressure, our priority is to keep the team together as it is right now.

So all four riders will get a proposal for next year. Nothing is done, nothing is signed, nothing is safe, but our priority is to keep the team together exactly like it is at the moment.

Crash.net:

That probably answers my next question, but I have to ask about the rumours linking Andrea Dovizioso with KTM. Has there been any contact?

Pit Beirer:

At the moment I just can tell you that we will not speak to other riders before it's clear that our riders will accept our offer or not. I'll work now with our riders first and then we'll see what happens after that.

I hope we can close all of this pretty soon and be stable for the future. So no other dealings at the moment. But honestly speaking nothing is signed yet, so I also cannot feel safe to say I have four riders.

Like I said it's an open process, very early and really hard for everybody to take decisions because of course teams would like to see how the riders perform. The riders want to see how the bikes perform.

But it looks like we will all need to decide, just trusting each other and pretty blind. Because I think almost nobody can wait until we get race results. So it's a really strange situation to make all these kind of things for the future.

You cannot even meet properly. Normally when you make a contract, you want to sit at a table with your friends and look in their eyes and make sure they feel comfortable to sign a new contract.

Now instead you are sending emails and doing Skype interviews and that's absolutely not the way we want to do contracts actually.

Crash.net:

Do you think the short 2020 season means it will be quite hard for any Moto2 guys to move up to MotoGP next year?

Pit Beirer:

Anyway, picking the right riders is like working on the stock market: When you look back it's always easy to say which was the right decision!

I think some top guys out of Moto2 will still get chances next year. But at the same time you would have to stop working with an existing MotoGP rider, that has MotoGP experience, and jump to someone without experience. So there is a certain amount of risk involved.

But if you show incredible speed in Moto2, for sure it's easier to get the trust of a MotoGP team than - like now - when there is no racing and nobody can get any information.