The arrival of Dani Pedrosa in a KTM project which is in its third MotoGP season has sparked many comments in the paddock. Some saw it as a good deal to accelerate the development of the RC16 while others saw the operation as a good publicity stunt. Pit Beirer, director of KTM Motorsport, gives his version…
Small size, light weight, Dani Pedrosa is a physical exception among MotoGP riders, and these measurements affect the settings of a motorcycle. Cal Crutchlow, at the time when Pedrosa was still possibly a future Honda test rider, underlined this singularity by doubting that she could bring anything positive to the rest of the HRC troop in a tune-up. But KTM jumped at the opportunity to benefit from the experience of a triple World Champion and vice-world champion in MotoGP in 2007, 2010 and 2012. His 31 victories also speak for him. But his body worn by so many injuries against.
It was the latter who first broke down, on the side of a collarbone which had to undergo a delicate operation and a long convalescence. The theory of the proponents of the notoriety vector then took over. But since, Pedrosa put the leather back on. And it is the purposeful hiring approach that is currently gaining the upper hand.
A debate that Pete Beirer wants to stop, giving its official version: “ Dani did a few laps in December and we contributed a lot to this test. Some of the parts we now see on our bike come from this test " said Beirer, giving an example of the 33-year-old pilot's influence. “ He was also at the factory in between and gave the engineers all the impressions. Dani provides specific information about the hardware, what he wants, what needs to change » insisted the director of KTM Motorsport, to “Motorsport-Total.com”. “I am extremely surprised at the depth with which he can go into detail.”
« I can promise he will stay with us for the long term. It is not a marketing action. Dani doesn't make a little money with us by going to the paddock to have fun. But he's a rider and he wants to work with us, and we want to improve the bike with him. He will be a piece in our mosaic " keep on going Beirer.
On his corpulence, the same Beirer speaks more of an advantage than a disadvantage for the development of the RC16: “ the motorcycle must be extremely responsive and easy to handle. If you have a rider weighing 50 kg or less, you need to make the motorcycle extremely mobile ».
He adds : " Furthermore, with the exception of MotoGP rookie Miguel Oliveira, Pedrosa is the first KTM rider to have never ridden a Yamaha. Dani knows a perfect V4 engine and can tell us that we have strong points that we need to stick to, but we also have weak points that we need to work on. If you doubt everything you can throw away some good coins and Dani was very helpful during this short time ».
We will also recall that Pedrosa finds Mike leitner who served as his team boss at Honda until the end of 2014. Together they also won two world titles in the 250cc class.
