Even before he could celebrate Tetsuta Nagashima's victory in Moto2, Pit Beirer, Director of KTM Motorsport, was contacted by our colleagues at speedweek to comment on the 100th success of the men from Mattighofen in the Grand Prix world championship on the circuit.
The latter was brought at the end of the Qatar Grand Prix by Albert Arenas, which benefited from the in-depth work of Hans Rossmanith, the new engine developer in the Moto3 category.
After promising official tests, this is a happy confirmation for the Austrian manager, who however did not wish to prepare anything to celebrate the event...
Pete Beirer : “I'm superstitious about it and I don't like to arrange something in advance. But it is particularly important to me that we have taken a step forward in the Moto3 category with the 2020 machine. This victory means a lot to us because the Losail circuit has always been a very difficult place for us in the Moto3 World Championship. We have neglected nothing in recent months to progress our Moto3. We now seem to have managed to do this with the completely revised chassis and many new small engine parts. This is why we are really happy. I would like to thank my team for the excellent work which allowed us to achieve the hundredth Grand Prix victory. But I would like to say this: the number 100 is beautiful, but what pleases me even more is the next Grand Prix victory and not the record of the first 100. After the Qatar Grand Prix, we will do an exact analysis of the data and we will see what was good and what was not so good, and what brought us closer to the top. Because we must continue to be a strong opponent for the competition in the Moto3 World Championship. Moto3 is very important to us, as it was the basis for the return to road racing in 2012.”
Even if the Austrian firm continues to be represented in Moto2 by the Ajo team (equipped with KTM and also winner that same day in Qatar), the decision to stop manufacturing motorcycles for the intermediate category therefore seems to be bearing fruit in Moto3 and MotoGP.
By lining up in all Grand Prix categories and thus constituting a real sector at the cost of colossal work, KTM had perhaps had its eyes bigger than its stomach. Today, focused solely on Moto3 and MotoGP, the men in orange and blue seem better able to catch up in these two categories.
In Moto3, it's obviously done, in MotoGP, they are working on it!
A year after his arrival in the world championship, KTM's first Grand Prix victory was obtained by the young Casey Stoner on October 10, 2004 at Sepang, one year after the arrival of the Austrians in 125cc under the responsibility ofHarald Bartol.
A long story then began to be written…
