Yesterday the official presentation of the KTM armada in Grand Prix took place, which you can watch in video here (see also the 199 official photos here).
It lasted half an hour, after which Stefan Pierre, CEO of KTM, dropped the jacket to address journalists in a less formal manner. He also dropped the mask, repeating his accusations against Honda, going so far as to describe the Japanese firm as “most hated competitor” and accusing him thus: “ Honda is also the big challenge. Furthermore, they have always tried to cheat bending the rules. Look what is arrived at the Dakar a few months ago. And also in Moto3. It's always the same, I don't know why they do this because they don't need it.«
Stefan Pierer is obviously referring to what happened in the last Dakar with the illegal refueling Joan Barreda, but also to the accusations he launched last year against the Tokyo manufacturer, accusing it of exceeding the maximum revs of 13.500 rpm imposed by the regulations in Moto3 races in 2015, the year when Honda won the title (see here).
This line of communication, unusual in the industry, does not stop at what directly concerns KTM since, let us remember, the Austrian had also criticized Ducati for hiring Jorge Lorenzo: " “Ducati hired Lorenzo, how much. .. 12 million euros? And yet, they are not sure that they will win since, when it rains, it doesn't drive well. In this case, there is no point in having the best motorcycle. »
Having someone who doesn't use jargon is usually quite pleasant for journalists and readers. However, the atmosphere should not become unpleasant...
sources: Greg Jedrzejewski, RoadRacing World, TodoCircuito, etc.
