The Red Bull KTM MotoGP team will be presented in a new line-up in 2021. In the factory team, KTM’s own brands Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira will be deployed because the previous team loader Pol Espargaró has signed with Repsol-Honda for two years. Danilo Petrucci (29) takes the lead in the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team, with Iker Lecuona (20.)
Pit Beirer, Motorsport Director of KTM, would like to have kept all four MotoGP riders from 2020. The departure of the World Championship eleventh Espargaró caused hectic activity at Red Bull Factory Racing in Mattighofen for more than two weeks.
After the lockdown, KTM had his hands full anyway to first handle the private test in Spielberg with Pedrosa and Pol Espargaró (May 27/28), to plan the Misano test this week and the Brno test from Pedrosa and Kallio in July. Plus the 13 European Grand Prix from Jerez to Valencia within four months.
“In America, the Supercross World Cup took place at the same time with two events a week,” recalls Beirer. “So a little bit of normalcy returns. We all go back to work, we’ve been waiting for a long time. »
“Our goal was to start the 2021 season with all of our 2020 MotoGP riders,” confirms Beirer. «In particular, we wanted to give our two rookies an opportunity to confirm themselves through the late start of the season, always with the certainty of a firm contract for 2021. We wanted to give them the security that they would continue to do well before the restart . »
The negotiations between Pol Espargaró’s manager Homer Bosch with Ducati and Repsol-Honda came as a surprise for KTM.
CEO Stefan Pierer told SPEEDWEEK.com in autumn that he could imagine working with Pol until the end of the Dorna contract in 2026.
Pit Beirer: «It is clear that an ambitious driver like Pol tries to use the best possible material. But then we also had to listen around and reposition ourselves. After the first meetings, we agreed that we should implement our strategy, which we have been pursuing for years. We are now so far with our MotoGP Academy that we can rely entirely on our riders in the MotoGP Factory Team. We are very proud that we have brought both of our Rookies Cup school through our own Moto3 and Moto2 together with team boss Aki Ajo to the point that we can now present them at the forefront in the premier class. We are aligning our MotoGP project with two very young riders for the future. But the two have won 27 GPs together; so they represent a very strong team. »
Pit Beirer: “There is no B team anymore”
“At the same time, we have strengthened our Tech3-KTM team with Danilo Petrucci, who will be racing next to 20-year-old Iker Lecuona in 2021,” emphasizes the KTM race director. «This is also for a desired constellation. And we want to make it clear that Tech3 is not our junior team, this also applies to the Moto3 class. As early as 2020, we committed to equipping all four riders in the MotoGP class with the same material. As I said: We are no longer talking about A and B teams. We want to try to build something for the future with our young drivers. We will have four works drivers on the track this year. At the same time, we are extremely happy to have Danilo signed last year’s World Cup sixth, a MotoGP winner who already has experience with 29 years. He could have the role of ‘riding captain’. In any case, we will also have a very exciting mix of pilots in the 2021 season. I suspect it will also be a quick mix. »
At KTM they would have loved to see Dani Pedrosa in the role of the regular driver. Andrea Dovizioso was also temporarily interested. But in the long term, the deal with Petrucci made more sense – also in terms of age.
“Finding a successor to Pol Espargaró was difficult,” admits Pit Beirer. “Usually, with driver engagements like this, you use information like the latest GP results. But after nothing had happened on the racetrack for months and we hadn’t learned anything new there, we had to listen to our gut feeling and remember the achievements of 2019. when we talked to Danilo we noticed that he is an extremely nice guy. What we particularly liked, of course: He has bought no fewer than eleven off-road bikes from KTM and Husqvarna in recent years. The more important aspect was: He is an experienced MotoGP rider with a GP win. And you don’t win a MotoGP race by accident. He is one of the few riders who can run MotoGP races at the highest level. And since we have three very young drivers on the team, it was also very important to have an experienced teammate. »
The driver puzzle at KTM came together within a few days. «Danilo learned very early from his team that he no longer had a place in MotoGP. At the same time we have a new top driver. From that point of view, it was love at first sight. »
After failing with Johann Zarco, Beirer decided in 2019 that he would never hire a Yamaha MotoGP rider for KTM again.
Beirer has no reservations about “Petrux # 9”. After six years, the Roman should also be able to tame the KTM RC16 on the V4 Ducati. “It has now been proven that the powerful V4 units can be driven differently than the inline four-cylinder,” emphasizes Beirer. «At KTM, we made a conscious decision to opt for this more powerful concept. You need a very determined rider for such a brutal motorcycle. But Danilo comes from a motorcycle with the same concept. That is why we do not expect an eye-opening experience with him like with other drivers who could not cope with the different concepts. »
This is what the MotoGP teams look like in 2020
Repsol-Honda
Marc Márquez, Alex Márquez
Ducati Team
Andrea Dovizioso, Danilo Petrucci
Monster Energy Yamaha
Maverick Viñales, Valentino Rossi
Suzuki Ecstar
Alex Rins, Joan Mir
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Pol Espargaró, Brad Binder
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
Aleix Espargaró, Bradley Smith
Pramac Racing
Jack Miller, Francesco Bagnaia
Reale Avintia Racing
Tito Rabat, Johann Zarco
Petronas Yamaha SRT
Fabio Quartararo, Franco Morbidelli
LCR Honda
Cal Crutchlow, Takaaki Nakagami
Red Bull KTM Tech3
Miguel Oliveira, Iker Lecuona
This is what the MotoGP teams will look like in 2021
Repsol-Honda
Marc Márquez, Pol Espargaró
Ducati Team
Andrea Dovizioso? Jorge Lorenzo? Jack Miller
Monster Energy Yamaha
Maverick Viñales, Fabio Quartararo
Suzuki Ecstar
Alex Rins, Joan Mir
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Brad Binder, Miguel Oliveira
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
Aleix Espargaró, Bradley Smith? Andrea Iannone?
Pramac Racing
Jorge Martin, Jorge Lorenzo? Pecco Bagnaia? Johann Zarco?
Reale Avintia Racing
Tito Rabat, Johann Zarco?
Petronas Yamaha SRT
Valentino Rossi, Franco Morbidelli
LCR Honda
Alex Marquez, Cal Crutchlow? Takaaki Nakagami?
Red Bull KTM Tech3
Danilo Petrucci, Iker Lecuona
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