Casually, it's a big success for KTM. The manufacturer is the first MotoGP entrant to go down on a track since the end of confinement to get back to work. A challenge, too, like a promise kept while there is still a long way to go to regain even a little normality. But the Mattighofen firm shows that impossible is not Austrian either. The men in orange tunics also took the opportunity to train in health protocols for the world after. And Pit Beirer, the sports director, is very proud of his operation…
Pete Beirer had said something to his employees at the time when the crisis Coronavirus grew in power: “ I said at the time that we would be the first to radically enter confinement, but that we would be the first to come out of it. And we made this announcement come true » says the KTM sporting director proudly to Günther Wiesinger of Speedweek. com.
Organizing this test was also a dress rehearsal for what awaits the team when it is time to prepare for the expedition to Jerez, for the first Grand Prix of the season in MotoGP, on July 19. “ We tried to run the core team for these tests with employees who work in the racing department and live nearby. Every person who did not have to travel from abroad was of course now an advantage. The majority of this team was organized with our MotoGP test team based in Munderfing ».
“We are not Coronavirus hooligans”
« We therefore did not work with the team assigned to Pol. But we had his team leader Paul Trevathan, who was from the Netherlands. And Pol has an Austrian mechanic on his team anyway. Dani Pedrosa's team leader, David Guttierez who lives in Spain, also came to Spielberg. For the moment we have brought as few foreigners as possible to Austria ».
And all this while respecting the new health standards: “ we did organizational work because we tested all team members and technicians for Covid 19 beforehand. We did not want to be considered coronavirus hooligans », added the race director KTM which ensures that another test will take place at the beginning of July in Brno. With the pilots Tech3 et Brad Binder, finally repatriated from his native South Africa…
