The KTM factory arrived in MotoGP full of enthusiasm and ambition, and completely ready to do battle with Aprilia. A sympathetic approach but tinged with a certain candor. The track brought everyone back down to dry land. There is still a lot to do on the RC16 and this trip to Losail is like the one at the end of hell. During last week's tests, it was not joy. And since the Qatar Grand Prix has started, the gaps are only growing with the competition.
KTM has now understood, its first copy made on the RC16 will have been a rough draft. The verdict of the clock is merciless. In Australia, the orange bike returned 1.9 seconds for the best time and at the end of the last tests on the Losail track, the Austrians were down 2.2 seconds. Worse, at the end of the first evening on Thursday, the distance was 3.314 sec. Reduced to 2.8 seconds on Friday.
But this slight reversal was no consolation, because, at the same time, the KTMs were rejected in the last two places. Which are likely to be their lot this weekend, as much Pol Espargaro which Bradley Smith do not seem able to take off from 1'57 per lap. The RC16 beast with its overflowing power makes its indiscipline pay dearly.
The younger brother of a happier Aleix at Aprilia explains: “ we have still made progress in power management. We are also making progress with the settings. But we remain focused on electronics because it is because of it that we waste the most time. We recorded quite a bit of data during the three days of testing. But right now the conditions are different. Temperatures are lower, humidity higher. We do what we can with what we have but it's not easy ».
There is also the experience of the team: “ We have a lot of things we can change on the bike, but it takes us time because everything is new. We are in the learning phase. After a few races, we will work faster and everything will seem simpler. For me and the team. With more experience, we will be better prepared ».
A sentiment shared by Bradley Smith : “ it's like I'm experiencing my first day at school ". And then, to top it all off, the sky gets involved… “ if it rains, we will regress a little further because our bike needs a grippy track to overcome its problems. We suffer more than others if the track is slippery ". And we saw the weather at the moment Qatar...
