KTM CEO Stefan Pierer said this winter that he would not go "big game fishing" and attract a star rider for 2021, but that he clearly intended to continue with his four current MotoGP riders, Pol Espargaro et Brad Binder within the factory team, as well as Iker Lecuona and Miguel Oliveira at Tech 3.
But Pol Espargaró, who will be in his fourth MotoGP season with KTM in 2020, could be partnered with Repsol–Honda next year as Moto2 World Champion Alex Márquez has only been given a one-year contract . But Stefan Pierer aims to keep the fast and fighting Spaniard until the end of his career, and beyond as a brand ambassador.
“We would, in fact, like to take advantage of the period before the start of the MotoGP season in July to extend the contracts with our four current MotoGP riders. This is clearly our objective, while this year, only ten races can be organized instead of twenty, especially since the spring races, which are normally used for decision-making and observation, are all canceled » Beirer told Günther Wiesinger of Speedweek. com.
“With this quartet of drivers, we want to continue a normal year after the Corona year. Our intention is to start the new 2021 season with the current drivers and keep the team together as it is. »
“Usually at this time of year, April, May or June, you're thinking about drivers for the future. But you usually have race results, event history and developments twice a month that you can study. Now we have nothing left », adds the Director of KTM Motorsport. »
“At the same time, the riders have no information about the competitiveness of our new bike. And they don't know how good the other bikes are. But they would like to get this information for themselves. They want the best equipment and the best team for themselves. »
“As a factory team we want to know how the drivers are developing. The fact is that we don't know anything except what we saw in February during the MotoGP tests in Malaysia and Qatar. But we can't wait until the results of the 2020 races are finally available to plan for the next season. This is why we want to extend the contracts with all amendments relatively quickly and as they are currently. »
“We have very good drivers and the competing teams also see that they are fast. And until we have contracts signed, they won't be safe with us for 2021. But we have friendships with all four drivers, some of them have been driving for us for more than five years. I don't see any great danger of losing any of them at the moment. »
“But of course other teams in the market are just as moving and will consider our drivers and possibly make them offers. I hope our drivers are good enough for other teams to watch them as well. If this was not the case, we would not have made the best choice. »
“But we don’t want to force any driver to stay with us. They should voluntarily sign the new contracts that we present to them. We are currently preparing for it. »
Photos © Markus Berger and Sebas Romero for KTM
