2022 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing & Tech3 KTM Factory Racing line-up
KTM return to MotoGP in 2022 with the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Tech3 KTM Factory Racing teams each fielding two riders on board the RC16, with Brad Binder, Miguel Oliveira looking to improve upon a successful 2021 season. While MotoGP rookies Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner form the Tech3 assault for 2022.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing set their sights on 2022 GP wins after being one of only three teams where both riders tasted victory last year.
Losail International Circuit on March 6th will kick off the season as for the sixteenth consecutive year the Grand Prix of Qatar will open the MotoGP World Championship, with 2022 marking only the sixth season that KTM are on the MotoGP grid.
Losail was the scene of their very first full-time MotoGP appearance in 2016, with the manufacturer having since surged to the forefront with five Grand Prix victories and 12 podium appearances since.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing will welcome Francesco Guidotti into the role of Team Manager for 2022, with the Italian overseeing former Moto3 and Moto2 teammates Binder and Oliveira together on the rider roster.
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager
“It is always important to do better than the previous year. To do better we need more consistent results, more consistency in the top five and on the podium. We have to develop the bike to make the riders happy, to give them the right feeling and confidence to achieve these results. Of course, their position is an important one because they need to show the potential of the bike and the project. They have 2-3 years experience in this category now so maybe it is the right moment to use this experience. They have already won some races so the ability and the potential is there ,so we have to see it more regularly. In the last five years the results have been incredible; starting from zero like KTM did and what they achieved is unbelievable and we want to keep it going.”
Guidotti will bring his former experience to a refined set-up that will focus on results, with the KTM testing team – led by Dani Pedrosa and Mika Kallio – spearheading development of the KTM RC16 away from Grand Prix.
Binder (26-years-old, 17 career wins, two in MotoGP) meanwhile prepares for his third MotoGP season, all with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
Brad Binder
“I’ve learnt so much over the last two seasons it’s difficult just to pick a couple things in particular. I think each year has come with it’s own sets of challenges:in my first I had to manage my expectations a bit. I often wanted toomuch, too soon and made a lot of mistakes.Last year I had to accept where we were at some points andtry and bring the bike home, which was difficult but I learnt a lot last year: I learned so much more about the category, how to save my tires better, how to manage races and I enjoyed it a lot actually. So, I’m going in to my third season understanding what I need to do to go faster and I’m looking forward to getting the year started. I’m more ready than I’ll ever be.”
Oliveira (27, 15 career wins and three in the premier class) entered MotoGP a year earlier but is currently the most prolific of the quartet and has walked the podium five times in three campaigns, all with the KTM RC16.
Miguel Oliveira
“Last year we had a huge step forward in four races where I scored three podiums and one win so that was quite nice. Then with the injury in the second half of the season the races became really tough: it was definitely a learning curve for me. I lacked consistency and of course this season I’d like to improve that. It’s never easy to go to the limit and still think about finishing the race. I would say if I’m able to score points in every GP then at the end of the championship the result might be quite different, so we’re just looking to take the maximum potential of myself, of the bike, of the whole crew and translate that into results.”
KTM second duo of factory riders is thanks to a four-year collaboration with the Tech3 KTM Factory Racing Team.
Hervé Poncharal’s knowledgeable and decorated outfit will again help to induct two exciting new recruits: Moto2 World Champion Remy Gardner (23-years-old and six career victories) and 2021 runner-up Raul Fernandez (21 and 10 triumphs in two classes). Both riders came through elements of KTM’s GP Academy and Aki Ajo’s fabled set-up in both the Moto2 and Moto3 divisions.
Remy Gardner
“I am thrilled to start my first season in the MotoGP class. This is the dream of every motorcycle racer and I cannot wait to get started. We already had a few tests in 2021 that were encouraging, so I am very excited to improve myself, continue to discover the bike, and be able to learn about this amazing class with so many talented riders.I am also looking forward to working again with Tech3, getting along with the team, and continuing the relationship with KTM. This is going to be a long,but interesting year. I know it won’t always be easy but I will always push, try and give the best of myself in order to get the best results we can without going too crazy. I will certainly take this season step by step, but I am very excited to start riding again.”
Raul Fernandez
“I am really happy to do my first MotoGP season and it is a great opportunity for me. I remember only three years ago I was competing in the Moto3 World Championship, and now here I am in the MotoGP class. It is an absolute pleasure. This winter, I prepared differently than previous years in order to gain muscle and get stronger. The MotoGP bike is so much more powerful. The braking is different… Everything requires more physical fitness, so I did motocross and road bike training, some cycling and running, and I feel ready. My main goal this season will be to advance and progress race by race, and enjoy myself in every single one of them.”
Hervé Poncharal – Tech3 KTM Factory Racing Team Principal
“The new season is always an intense moment, exciting and emotional. 2022 is very special for us because we have the pleasure to welcome Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez, who respectively finished first and second in the 2021 Moto2 World Championship.There has been a lot of work done this winter to prepare for the 2022 season, both on the bike and in the organization of the KTM MotoGP technical structure. The Tech3 KTM Factory Team has had a few changes of its own too. We are now impatient and ready to start. With two rookies, we don’t expect to win the championship, but our main target will be to win the Rookie of the Year title in the MotoGP class. We are hoping to do some strong finishes, Top 10 and why not Top 5? With riders like Remy and Raul, we have to dream high. Over the last years, rookies have reached podiums, so it can be us this year.”
Pit Beirer, KTM Motorsport Director
“2021 was the most successful motorsport season ever in our group. It is amazing what we have done in one year in the road racing paddock: winning the Moto3 world championship and the Moto2 world championship and finishing 6th in MotoGP. It is super-motivating for everything in the future. When you start a project like this in MotoGP you want to win a race one day and to say that sounds quite simple but to actually do it is such an incredible effort from so many people involved. We did it. It’s on paper, but we also had to learn it the hard way; you win one weekend in that class but the next weekend you are fighting to qualify for Q2 because it is just so tight. The target for us now is to be there consistently every weekend, get in that top five and fight for the podium at the end of season standings. That must be the goal for this season. I know it is a very high one because the other manufacturers have ambitious targets as well but we are strong now: we have the team, the base, the bike and we have the riders.”
Source: MCNews.com.au