KTM boss reflects on ‘up and down’ 2024 MotoGP season

KTM’s MotoGP project is currently in uncertainty over the Austrian company’s financial woes, but it still ended the 2024 season as runner-up in the championship’s constructors’ standings.

Only Ducati, which won all but one of the Grands Prix held in 2024, had a better season, on paper, than KTM.

However, the Mattighofen manufacturer was also unable to win a Grand Prix for the third season in succession, and its winless run, including Sprints, stretches back to the Spanish Sprint in 2023.

“I have to be honest, our expectations have been a bit higher, especially for Brad [Binder] and Jack [Miller],” KTM motorsport director Pit Beirer told MotoGP.com, “but we’ve had our ups and downs. We had a really difficult summer, but at least we managed to stabilize the situation and get some decent results.

“Looking back now, we’ve had six [Sprint] podiums on Saturday and six [Grand Prix podiums] on Sunday. We’re the second-best manufacturer, so that’s great.

“But, of course, we thought we’d be closer to the Ducati guys, who have done another fantastic job this year. We have to congratulate them for what they’re doing out there, but we still keep fighting, charging, and learning.

“We feel we’re getting closer again and have received some really good feedback from Brad and Pedro [Acosta] lately. We now need to secure fifth and sixth positions and second place as a manufacturer – that’s the target for the final round.

“But I still want to look at the glass as half full, not half empty, and I feel we’re in a good position from a sporting perspective looking towards next season, with the new riders on board. We’ve learned a lot more about our bike in the past few weeks, and that’s important.”