In Valencia a press conference was held which brought together Alberto Puig for Honda, Paolo Ciabatti for Ducati, Lin Jarvis for Yamaha, Davide Brivio for Suzuki, Pit Beirer for KTM and Massimo Rivola for Aprilia.
The purpose of this meeting was of course to take stock of the finished season and look forward to 2020.
To follow up and complete our sighting of the KTM RC16, here are the full remarks of Pit Beirer.
How do you analyze your 2019 season, with the progress of your opponents, the injuries and the departure of Johann Zarco?
“It's no secret that we've had some tough times this season. At the beginning of the year, everything was sort of OK but there was something, which I'll call the project with Johann, that we couldn't make work. It's always a story of halves: the team didn't perform well enough, and we expected Johann and us to push each other to reach a different level. It was difficult throughout the season, but on the other hand, Pol performed very well in many races and on many days. In the middle of the season we also had many new parts for the bike which were able to be tested in the background by Dani Pedrosa. So overall things have been very good this summer and we have been able to have better control over the bike, which resulted in a front row start at Misano. Pol felt really good on the bike and it seemed like the bike had improved in its turning ability and grip. But he got injured and so we had a lot of ups and downs. Of course, we are still looking for a basis. Looking back, I would say now that things are going well and we can set the bike up very well for a circuit. Pol is in good shape and he is strong. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's easy but we can fight for the top 10 without any big problem. But there were also difficult days where we simply lacked experience, like on the overseas tour where we were looking for grip at the rear. There are many areas on our agenda where we need to improve but the most important thing for all of us is that we have healthy drivers, and there are also areas of hope, like Miguel who is climbed from fifteenth to eighth place in Austria, even though he was a rookie and without drivers falling in front of him. But in the next race, he was injured and suffered the after-effects of this shoulder injury for the rest of the season. So it was time for us to have surgery and have his shoulder repaired. So yes, the most important thing for us is that all our riders get back into good physical condition, but of course there is no area of the bike that we can freeze: we can still improve in all areas and the way is still a long way ahead of us. »
With Dani continuing to develop the bike, Pol who is fast and has experience, Miguel continuing as well as two promising rookies, this must be motivating for you?
“Yes, I mean it’s very exciting to look forward to the future. As in our other projects, we have been able to progress our own riders in their different disciplines, and now Brad and Miguel are very strong boys and are with us for the future. But I also want to thank Pol because he is a solid warrior who has always kept the project alive despite difficult times with ups and downs. And as he fought back in Thailand despite his hand injury, I really have to thank him for pushing so hard for us all these days. Now I think we need to hit the reset button a little bit. We are now managing to have four identical bikes next season for our four riders, and building a satellite team has also been quite difficult in the background. Starting out was one thing but now having the same technical level for all four drivers is important so that we can benefit from the results that can be obtained from this or that side of the garage. So yeah, I'm really looking forward to seeing all these young boys next season. »
Photo credit : MotoGP.com
