Moto2 Baumgärtel (Kalex): “The new front tire can create a surprise”

After the withdrawals of the manufacturers Tech 3 and Suter from the intermediate category at the end of 2018, then that of KTM at the end of 2019, the chassis manufacturer Kalex, whose team includes nine people and is led by Alex Baumgärtel, in theory does not have too much has to worry about winning his eighth consecutive Manufacturers' World Champion title in Moto2 this year.

No one doubts that Speed Up, MV Agusta and NTS are quality opponents, but Kalex represents the safe bet in the category. Everything should be going smoothly for the world leader, but there is one important point that seriously worries Kalex Managing Director Alex Baumgärtel.

“We have a new generation of front tires for 2020, which we were only able to test for a day and a half in Valencia in November. Before that, the Jerez test had fallen through. We will first have to see who is basically happy with the tires and who is not. It will be very interesting,” explains the boss of Kalex.

Dunlop is the exclusive supplier of the Moto2 World Championship, and few teams entered in this competition have been able to develop their machines based on the new tires.

But there is no question of waiting to have time to carry out intensive tests with this new type of front tire before launching the manufacture of cycle parts. “Everything is running at full capacity and, as usual, a lot will happen at the last minute, explains Baumgärtel. But everyone involved has known this for a long time. A fourth race abroad with Thailand at the start of the season does not make spare parts logistics easier, of course. »

“Among other things, we had three different chassis specifications to test in November and we distributed two of each in the paddock. One of them was selected with slight modifications for 2020 as a basis. »

“We also added a swingarm, which also serves as a basis for 2020. But after the winter testing, further changes were made in other areas. This means: no, the complete 2020 motorcycle was not yet used in November. »

Kalex is manufacturing 30 chassis this year for 22 riders in the Moto2 World Championship. We will see their competitiveness from the first test in Jerez scheduled for February 10 and 11. A Kalex chassis costs a little over 70 euros.

Video: How not to damage your Kalex, by Álex Márquez