KTM is banking on stability rather than big breaks in 2025. While Dani Pedrosa and Pol Espargaró have shone as wild cards in recent years – Pedrosa 4th at Misano 2023 and 3rd at the Jerez Sprint 2024, Espargaró in the top 10 twice – Pit Beirer, the brand's motorsport director, is holding off on new projects. In an interview, he explains why KTM is putting the wild cards on hold, despite a team in top form.
While Yamaha et Honda plan several wild-card appearances for their respective test drivers, KTM chooses a different strategy for 2025: no wild-card planned for the moment, despite the excellent results obtained by Dani Pedrosa et Pol Espargaro in recent seasons. Why this choice? Because at KTM, we prefer the rigor of development to the temptation of the result.
« As soon as we start preparing for the wild card, one of the two brilliant test pilots abandons his initial mission ", entrusts Pit Beirer à speedweek. " He starts preparing for a race, he wants to deliver and get a result. In doing so, the many details that need to be addressed by the test team are not addressed »
Experience has proven it: as soon as a wild card appears, the test mission takes a back seat. And at a time when KTM still trying to understand the intricacies of the new rear tire Michelin and mastering the behavior of the RC16, every day of testing counts. Even with the best intentions in the world, podium ambitions Pedrosa ou Pol Espargaro end up distracting from long-term development goals.
Pit Beirer: “ Our KTM test team has a brutal program »
And with an exceptional 2025 line-up (Acosta, Binder, Bastianini, Vinales), Beirer believes that the data collected each weekend is already sufficiently rich: “ we have four pilots on board who give us high quality informationOur testing team has a brutal schedule. »
Furthermore, the post-crisis economic context requires us to make choices: “ After the eventful winter and the near bankruptcy of the KTM group, there is no more room for additional projects dictated by the desire to race ", recognize Beirer.
However, the relationship with Pedrosa et I will espargaro remains privileged and goes well beyond simple contractual clauses: “ They are full members of the team, not just test pilots. What they bring us is irreplaceable.We will decide in the short term whether a wild card becomes relevant. »
And so far, the results speak for themselves. Despite persistent challenges (notably the penalty that deprived Viñales of his podium finish in Qatar), KTM knows he's now playing in the big leagues. But to take the next step, he'll have to sacrifice flashes of brilliance for technical stability, and that's a gamble that Beirer fully assumes.
