MotoGP – MotoGP Grands Prix: KTM back in MotoGP in 2017 – KTM occasions

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MotoGP Grand Prix: KTM back in MotoGP in 2017

MotoGP - MotoGP Grands Prix: KTM back in MotoGP in 2017 - KTM occasions

The boss of KTM, Stefan Pierer, revealed to our German colleagues at Speedweek his intention to line up in MotoGP with the RC16, a new prototype with a V4 engine to be built in small series. A thoughtful and ambitious project for the Austrian brand, briefly present in the category …

The boss of KTM, Stefan Pierer, revealed to our German colleagues of his intention to line up in MotoGP with the RC16, a new prototype with a V4 engine expected to be built in small series. A thoughtful and ambitious project for the Austrian brand, briefly present in the premier class as an engine manufacturer for the Roberts team in 2005.

Suzuki in 2015, Aprilia in 2016 and KTM in 2017: MotoGP is growing

If the incessant changes of regulations in MotoGP do not promote its readability, they undoubtedly help to limit its costs and thereby promote its accessibility. An example ? Seduced by the new measures planned in the short term (in particular the use of a single box and electronic software in 2016), KTM announces that it wants to compete in the premier class with its own motorcycle, no later than 2017 !

The coat of arms of Mattighofen would thus join Suzuki and Aprilia on the list of manufacturers planning to enlarge the MotoGP grid, which many feared not so long ago that it would only bring together one or two brands (at random, Honda and Yamaha) because of the vertiginous sums required to hope to be competitive there.

Aware of this drift, MotoGP leaders first created CRTs to lower costs and force historical participants (Ducati, Honda and Yamaha) to develop less expensive motorcycles like the RCV1000R. Then Dorna this year imposed a single electronic box on all motorcycles and the standardization of all assistance in 2016 in order to level the performance gaps and reduce expenses..

Measures decried by the "big" manufacturers but appreciated by the "small" such as KTM or Aprilia, who see it as a chance to match the Honda and Yamaha references without having to spend millions of euros in development. 

A new RC16 V4, available in small series

According to KTM president Stefan Pierer (photo below), this project will take the form of a prototype entirely designed by the Austrian brand: the RC16. Motorized by a 1000cc 4-cylinder V inserted in a tubular steel frame, this motorcycle mounted in WP suspensions (property of KTM) will be developed on the bench in 2015 and then on the circuit the following year. 

If all goes well, the Orange brand hopes to be able to officially enter it from the 2017 season, with the possibility of achieving a few wild cards at the end of 2016. Resuming its strategy in force in Moto3, the brand plans to be represented by an official team and to supply motorcycles to private teams, at an expected cost of one million euros like the Honda RCV1000R. 

Even more interesting for the (rich) biker enthusiast of radical sportswoman: an RC16 intended for the public will be built at the rate of around a hundred copies per year. As for the RC 250 R, the replica of the Moto3 KTM available from € 45,000, this RC16 for richards knowledgeable trackers would be very close to the racing bike. 

According to Stefan Pierer’s estimates, this probable little gem will demand between 150,000 and 200,000 € from its future happy owners. This ultimate sports car would add to the list of exceptional replicas of Grand Prix motorcycles such as the sculptural, the original and the expected. …

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