What a contrast between the bold, brash and (yes) bullish internet launch of the expanded Red Bull KTM MotoGP team and the news that broke at more or less the same time: that the CEO of the Austrian motorcycle company, Stefan Pierer, was stepping down. All the more so, just days after the orange-hued brand took yet another win in the Dakar Rally.
The self-defenestration of Stefan Pierer was a shock. Under his stewardship the Austrian manufacturer had risen from small-scale dirt-bike production to international prominence, with a range of full-size street and adventure motorcycles with a strong reputation. Now a financial melt-down was affecting the whole of his Pierer Mobility Group (owner of several other brands including Husqvarna and GasGas), triggered mainly by an over-abundance of KTM stock versus an under-abundance of sales. A situation against which Mr Micawber might have had something to say.
The problems emerged late last year, and took the motorcycling world by surprise as rumours escalated to become hard fact. Since then, almost 500 workers – 20 per cent of the work force, have been laid off, with the company in a self-administration debt restructuring programme in an attempt to stave off bankruptcy and closure.
Pierer’s stepping down was equally unexpected. He is – or was – KTM. And to an extent still will be, for he retains his seat on the board, although other members have departed. A new CEO, Gottfried Neumeister, has taken over, and started his tenure expressing hopes that new investment will be forthcoming. The Pierer group already has links with Chinese manufacturer CFMoto, and some KTMs raced in Moto3 last year under that brand name. Pierer was also fresh from a visit to India, seeking backing from that nascent industry.
Will this be enough for a stay of execution? The decision is imminent, as the pre-ordained bankruptcy procedure continues. A further court hearing on 25th February will decide whether creditors will accept the company restructuring plans. Assuming survival, Neumeister (who joined KTM from Siemens only late last year) has pledged to continue the commitment not only to off-road competition but also to MotoGP – significantly the most expensive area of competition.
KTM play an important role in MotoGP. Although they have failed to add to their total of seven wins since the last in 2022, the high-level V4s have been second (to Ducati) in the Constructors’ Championship for the past two years, and significant players in the rise of European versus Japanese brands over the past decade.
Continuation, at least for 2025 and probably 2026 (2027 sees a major rule change and requires a fresh level of commitment), would secure the immediate future of the four KTM riders: old hand Brad Binder and new factory team-mate Pedro Acosta – thought to be “the next Marc Márquez”, and the two new recruits at the second former satellite, now full-factory Tech3 team, Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales.
They represent a considerable talent pool. All four have won at least one World Championship in the smaller classes, and Acosta two. If the court verdict were to go against KTM and the whole enterprise to collapse, it would be a considerable loss to the grid. It probably won’t happen, was the general feeling at the team launch and beyond, after long-standing team manager Pit Beirer told press that financial problems would not affect machine development, nor the level of competitiveness. “You need to give everything to stay in the fight,” he said.
Should the worst happen, however, Dorna is thought to have a rescue plan, at least for pet Spaniard Acosta, one of their own and considered a long-term asset to the sport. They would find a way to put him on a Ducati. There will be plenty of spare 2024 bikes, following the departure of champion Jorge Martín to Aprilia and Bastianini to KTM, and the loss (to Yamaha) of their satellite team. But that’s a real outside chance.
Racing optimists envisage a more lasting solution, for the KTM racing department and all its riders, and a development that MotoGP in general has been dreaming of and sporadically trying to achieve for more than three decades – a flip to the F1 model.
Red Bull has sponsored its fellow-Austrians from even before KTM joined the premier class in 2017, in the smaller Moto3 and Moto2 classes from way back. This, of course, in addition to multiple rider contracts and Austria’s Red Bull Ring itself. Nor has it escaped notice that Red Bull operates its own independent racing enterprise in Formula 1, with not one but two teams.
It would make sense, at least from the MotoGP perspective, for them to add a two-wheel branch to the enterprise – the first team fully independent from the industry since Kenny Roberts’ Protons of the past, and the even shorter-lived Ilmor of 2006.
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