​KTM Gears Up For MotoGP in 2017

KTM is the fastest growing motorcycle manufacturer in the world and a dominant force worldwide in off-road racing, and starting next year they'll be taking the fight to the world's premier class of motorcycle road racing too: MotoGP. But MotoGP is extremely competitive, not to mention extremely expensive to race in - will they be ready to compete with the big boys next year, or are they biting off more than they can chew?

Back in 2014, Stefan Pierer, the CEO of KTM, surprised many when he revealed that the Austrian manufacturer was planning to to race in the world's premier motorcycle racing class, MotoGP. Now, two years later, the company's highly anticipated MotoGP racing program is finally coming together. Their all-new prototype race bike, the RC16, was revealed to the public in late 2015 and is currently undergoing extensive testing, and KTM just announced the signing of MotoGP racer Bradley Smith as the man who would pilot the RC16 for the factory team in 2017, just before this season's opening race in Qatar.

In the wake of a number of major changes in MotoGP to level the playing field and make smaller manufacturers competitive against dominant Honda and Yamaha, the entry of KTM into the world's premier racing class is just what many have been waiting for. Read on to find out what KTM has in store for 2017, and see why so many people are so excited to see them join the series!

Why The Big Jump Into MotoGP?

For KTM to jump right into the world's premier racing class with little road racing experience is a huge move for the relatively small manufacturer, whose real expertise is in building machines that excel in the dirt. The more standard route would have been for them to move up from Moto3, where KTM has seen a lot of success (they supply over 150 RC250R race bikes to teams all over the world), up to Moto2 before the move to primetime in MotoGP.

The problem for KTM was that Moto2 requires spec engines - specifically, 600cc powerplants sourced from Honda. KTM felt that building a factory race bike with a Japanese engine would be fundamentally against the company's principles; thus, they skipped the series altogether, and jumped right into the big leagues.

KTM getting their MotoGP endeavor with this all-new prototype race bike, the RC16, first revealed late last year and currently undergoing extensive testing.

But not only does MotoGP demand racing experience to be competitive - it's exorbitantly expensive. MotoGP racing is a costly endeavor; even small satellite teams spend eight-digit figures in the low teens to field a MotoGP team for a single year, and those numbers are dwarfed by a powerhouse team like Repsol Honda, whose single-year budget is rumored to be in the neighborhood of a staggering $80-100 million.

But as a company, KTM has been on a roll lately, seeing double digit sales increases for several consecutive years, and blasting past the $1 billion sales mark last year for the first time. They are a bold company with exceptional R&D and a competitive spirit, and now that they've filled their war chest, they can afford to rumble with the big boys on the world stage of road racing - and they're going for it.

KTMs MotoGP Effort Comes Together

KTM is no stranger to building championship-winning motorcycles, and the most highly anticipated part of their MotoGP program is, naturally, the bike itself. KTM gave some details during it's announcement - that it would be a 90-degree V-4 housed in their trademark tube chassis - but in late 2015 we finally got our first look at the machine they would be fielding, the KTM RC16. The RC16 is a full prototype race bike cranking out a reported 250HP; impressively, the engine makes that massive power without the pneumatic valves found in many GP bikes, which KTM engineers felt could suffer from reliability issues.

So far the RC16 looks great in testing; the biggest improvements of late have been in electronics and suspension. Every manufacturer can make massive power in 2016 - controlling it with electronics, suspension, and brakes is how a championship bike is built these days.

But what's most interesting about the RC16 is that KTM opted to design and build it completely in-house, without the help of third-party suppliers that often provide parts (and the engineering expertise to go with them) to MotoGP teams, such as Ohlins and Brembo. KTM is taking the hard road instead, using parts completely built in house or sourced from it's subsidiaries such as WP Performance Systems for it's suspension.

With the bike built, KTM shifted it's sights to finding a rider to pilot it, a search that ended recently with the signing of MotoGP racer Bradley Smith. Smith, in his fourth season in the premier class at the young age of 25, currently rides for Monster Yamaha, but he immediately expressed his excitement about coming onboard with KTM - not only to be a factory team rider, but to aid in the bike's development from it's early stages. During the big announcement, he seemed to feel it was meant to be, saying "it is a project that I believe is built for me" and also saying that KTM is a company that is competitive in every series they enter, and that it would be no different in MotoGP.

Meet the new face of KTM's MotoGP program - four-season premier class veteran, Bradley Smith, a British rider currently racing for Monster Yamaha.

Will They Really be "Ready to Race" in MotoGP?

Like Smith said, KTM does up to their motto "ready to race" by being competitive in every series they join. KTMs are consistently on podiums or winning championships in motocross, supercross, and enduro circuits in the U.S. and Europe, supply race bikes to Moto3 teams all over the world, and dominate in rally raid racing, winning the Paris Dakar rally an astounding 15 years in a row. KTM brings its game face to every racing series they enter, and they have the titles to prove it.

But it's also no secret that KTM's racing dominance is mostly off-road, and that when it comes to road racing, the company has had a lot less success. Their first foray into MotoGP in 2005 was an unmitigated disaster, supplying a bike to Kenny Roberts' Team KR that proved unrideable, ultimately pulling their support halfway through the season. Their last attempt at a superbike, the RC8, was great as a road bike, but not competitive in racing; it only gathered a few German superbike wins, and never even competed in WSBK.

So the big question is - their motto might be Ready to Race, but will they really be ready to race in the uber-competitive world of MotoGP? KTM is company that takes racing very seriously; they not only have the determination to do well in MotoGP, but now, they have the resources to do it. Furthermore, they are entering the series at a time of big changes designed to level the playing field and take away the advantages of dominant teams like Honda and Yamaha, like a move to spec electronics and bigger concessions for smaller manufacturers.