2022/01/victim-of-the-november-13-attacks-aristide-barraud-chases-his-nightmares-in-burkina-faso/” title=”Victim of the November 13 attacks, Aristide Barraud chases his nightmares in Burkina Faso”>KTM‘s 2022 began with the presentation of the RC16s of the official team and of the Tech3 satellite. For the internal team, which lines up Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira, the traditional Red Bull graphics, while Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez will sport orange, the symbolic color of the Austrian house.
Francesco Guidotti, new team manager of the official team, commented: “it is always important to do better than the previous year. To do this we need more consistent results, consistently being in the top five and on the podium. We have to develop the bike to make the riders happy, to give them the right feeling and confidence to achieve these results. Of course, their position is important because they need to show the potential of the bike and the design. They have 2-3 years of experience in this category now, so maybe it’s a good time to use it. They have already won a few races so the capacity and potential is there so we have to see it more regularly. Over the past five years, the results have been incredible; starting from scratch like KTM did and what they have achieved is incredible and we want to continue like this“.
Hervé PoncharalTech3 patron added: “the start of a new season is always an intense, exciting moment. 2022 is very special for us because we are pleased to welcome Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez, who finished first and second respectively in the 2021 Moto2 World Championship. A lot of work has been done this winter to prepare for the 2022 season, both on the bike and in the organization of the technical structure. The Tech3 KTM Factory Team also had some changes. We are now impatient and ready to start. With two rookies, we don’t expect to win the championship, but our main goal will be to win the Rookie of the Year title in the MotoGP class. We hope to make some important placings, in the Top 10 and why not in the Top 5? With riders like Remy and Raul, we have to dream big. In recent years, the rookies have reached the podium, so it can be us this year“.
Pit Beirer, Motorsport Director of KTM, took stock of the situation: “2021 was the most successful motorsport season ever in our group. It is incredible what we have done in a year in the post racing paddock: win the Moto3 World Championship and the Moto2 World Championship and finish 6th in the MotoGP. It’s super motivating for the future. When you start a project like this in MotoGP one day you want to win a race and say it sounds simple enough, but to really do it is an incredible effort on the part of so many people involved. We did it. It’s on paper, but we also had to learn the hard way: you win one weekend in that class, but the next weekend you’re struggling to qualify for Q2 because it’s everyone’s so close. The goal for us now is to consistently be in the front every weekend, get into the top five and fight for the podium in the end-of-season standings. This must be the goal for this season. I know it’s very high because the other manufacturers also have ambitious goals, but we are strong now: we have the team, the base, the bike and we have the riders.“.
Hubert Trunkenpolz, member of the executive committee, KTM CMO, added: “pFor the first time ever, we exceeded the turnover of two billion and it is another milestone for the company. A continuation of the years of growth. It is an incredible success story and we are extremely happy to have achieved it. On the other hand, when we take a look at motorsport in general we have reached 21 titles and this is also another record and engagement in motorsport is the most important marketing tool we have by far. For sure this incredible success in motorsport is strengthening the company’s revenue and brand awareness and is incredibly important. There were some incredible stories in 2021: Miguel’s three consecutive podiums, Brad’s win at home, Pedro Acosta, the fight for the Moto2 title. We can’t wait to see what happens in 2022. Drivers who know how to win races also know how to win championships. It is up to us now to give them the right material, the right structure, the right team and the right situation. Plus, the right support from the factory. Hopefully, the pilots will be the ones who help us reach our goalsi“.
