Moto2 KTM Private Test in Jerez J1: We work in silence... despite the wind!

During the last official Moto2 test in Jerez, at the end of November 2018, there was great disappointment among the KTM troops, plagued by a chattering problem with the second version of the cycle part hosting the Triumph engine.

Far from wanting to hide its face, the Austrian firm then tackled the problem head on, as its competition manager explained.

Pete Beirer  : “I think we were on the wrong track with the balance of the bike. It was clearly the same feeling for all our drivers. We have already located a clear problem. It was far from being like after the MotoGP test, where we will have to do a more in-depth analysis of all the data. We came back to the factory, and since then we've done quite a bit of work on the bike. We are already looking forward to the next test. But we are not allowed to ride until next February. At the end of September in Aragón, Oliveira and Binder had performed well with the 2019 model with three-cylinder engine. We wanted to go one step further for the last test at the end of November on the Jerez track. And it was just the wrong direction. This is why we had to react very quickly. We will not go with the same equipment to the next Moto2 test in Jerez.”

At the time, Brad Binder was the fastest of the KTM Moto2 riders, but only 13th, 0,941 seconds behind Luca marini.

Since then, the men of Mattighofen have revised their copy to stem the strong chattering that all the pilots had witnessed. Too much rigidity of the new tubular frame? Still, new frames are currently being tested in Jerez, just before the start of official testing, during a two-day private session.

We therefore find the Red Bull KTM Ajo teams (Moto2, Moto3 and FIM CEV with Brad Binder, Jorge Martin, Can Öncü and Deniz Öncü) and Red Bull KTM Tech3 (Moto2 with Marco Bezzecchi and Philipp Oettl), unavailable during the last private test due to presentation in Austria, the American team (Moto2) with Iker Lecuona and Joe Roberts, as well as the Ángel Nieto Team who brought their Moto2 and Moto3 for Jake Dixon, Xavier Cardelus, Albert Arenas and Raul Fernandez, Kiefer Racing (Moto2) with Lukas Tulovic, just like Bester Capital Dubai with its Moto3 for Jaume Massia and Andrea Migno.

On Monday, the track remained dry but it was a close call, as a gray sky overhung the Andalusian circuit which was otherwise swept by a strong wind.

Private KTM session requires, no tangible information has filtered, except that not everyone has the new KTM frame, but that the chattering phenomenon is now almost limited to a single type of tire, out of the three present (the tires obviously being free).

As expected, no time is available but, in any case, the track appears slower than during the November tests.

So we will have to make do with these few photos from our contact on site.

The official Moto2 and Moto3 tests will take place in Jerez from Wednesday February 20, lasting 3 days.