Currently in the midst of a crisis, KTM is still focusing on preparing for its 2025 MotoGP season. While many signings will strengthen the Austrian manufacturer's squad, one of the Oranges' leaders, Pit Beirer, highlights that of Aki Ajo. The new director of the brand's factory team has the latter's full confidence, who cites him as the best in his field.
This year, KTM's season did not live up to the expectations of its management. While Ducati won 19 races in twenty, it was Aprilia that managed to deprive the Italian factory of success at the Grand Prix of the Americas. Which means that the brand has not managed to find success during this 2024 campaign.
A slight disappointment that was quickly wiped away in the face of the major reshuffle of the KTM troops for next season. If two of the four riders were replaced, there were also many changes off the track. The most important being the replacement of Francesco Guidotti, ex Team Manager of the factory team, by Aki Ajo. A difficult but necessary decision, as Pit Beirer explains.
“I don’t want to sound terrible by saying this, but I’m really happy that Francesco is leaving KTM as a friend, says KTM Motorsports Director in comments relayed by MotoGP.com. Unfortunately, we didn't have the success we wanted for many small reasons."
The Finn, who was previously the director of the eponymous team in Moto2 and Moto3, knows the KTM family well, for whom he has been training riders for many years in the lower classes of the world championship. He therefore appears to Pit Beirer as the man for the job, especially since he has already worked extensively with Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta. KTM's two factory riders in 2025.
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"We also made the decision for Aki because he is a man who works very closely with the drivers, He continues. I think he can give them great advice on what to do on the track. There is the fundamental work that needs to be done at home in the factory to produce a great machine because you can't close the gap between bikes during the weekend just with the riders."
"We think Aki is perhaps one of the strongest in this field, he then assures. He has always had the ability to develop champions for us. Both of these guys know him very well and are looking forward to working with him. He has made them champions before, so we trust Aki to give us that little extra something in the fight for the last tenths of a second that we need. But again, I want to thank Francesco for giving everything until the last day. As I said, I am really happy that he leaves us as a friend, and who knows what the future holds.
Aki Ajo will not solve all of KTM's problems, but Pit Beirer knows where to put the cursor to improve the details that will escape the area of expertise of his new team manager.
“Don’t get me wrong, we don’t think Aki will come in and solve all our problems. But if we share the missing pieces. Let’s say, we will build a better machine at home, and the riders will bring everything to the table at the right time. It’s not just about the riders. It’s also about the team planning: when to go out for qualifying, when to put the lap time and all those organizational aspects.” concludes the German.
