The KTM RC16 MotoGP bike has had an official outing at the Red Bull Ring in Austria to prepare for a full season of racing in 2017. If you hadn’t seen it yet, it looks as stunning as every MotoGP when it’s clad in carbon fibre…
The MotoGP effort was announced 15 months ago, and test rider Alex Hoffmann rode the bike for three days earlier in August. Obviously as the home round of KTM, it was the perfect time for them to reveal more about the new bike at the Austrian GP on August 12-14, 2016. That included demo laps by both Hoffmann and Mika Kallio in full MotoGP livery.
You’ll notice the number 36 on the 2016 KTM RC16. That’s the number for Finnish rider Mika Kallio, who is the full-time KTM test rider, having competed for the factory in 125cc and 250cc Grand Prix as well as racing in Moto2 and MotoGP. And if the next four tests go well, he’ll be racing as a wild card at the final 2016 round in Valencia, Spain in November.
The riders for the 2017 season will be British MotoGP star Bradley Smith and his current Tech3 Yamaha team-mate Pol Espargaro.
“Almost two and a half years ago we made the decision that when we become number one in Europe we would be forced to take the last step (to join MotoGP). Meanwhile we’re now selling more than 60% of our 200,000 bikes onroad and to get accepted at the highest level of the sport you must take part in MotoGP, the F1 of motorcycle racing. Racing is our philosophy, our motivation and if we enter the segment, for sure we will have a learning curve but we will reach to podium – and my life’s dream is to be the world champion in MotoGP,” said Stefan Pierer, the KTM Group CEO.
KTM has plenty of experience in the smaller classes with success in 125cc and 250cc GPs, Moto3 and Moto2. That’s already shown with Kallio lapping within two seconds of the top MotoGP times during a private test last month, and within one second of the leading non-Ducati.
And the KTM RC16 also sounds as good as it looks.
Obviously it’ll be challenging to develop a new motorcycle in MotoGP, but it looks and sounds the part. And KTM obviously aren’t daft – in addition to their road racing experience, they’ve got a long history of winning in motocross and enduro.
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