With a second place by Brad Binder, the KTM factory team got off to a strong start to the MotoGP season in Qatar, and before the next race next weekend in Portimao, the people of Innviertel are showing an appetite for more. “Second place is a confirmation of our work in the winter, but it is already ticked off again. We have to look forward,” said KTM Motorsport boss Pit Beirer on Monday evening at the OÖNachrichten reception in Ried (report in the regional section) . There was much applause for his renewal of the promise of the title. Beirer: “We won’t give up until we are world champions.”
KTM has already collected 334 world championship titles in a wide variety of motorcycle disciplines, but an important piece of the puzzle, success in the MotoGP category, is still missing. Last year, Binder finished the World Championships in fourth place, and in the team rankings KTM came in second behind Ducati. “We have reached a good level, as our seven victories show. But we came into MotoGP in 2012 to become world champions at some point,” said Beirer, who at least indirectly answered the question about the Innviertler’s MotoGP budget: ” No team will compete for less than 30 or 40 million euros.” By the way: KTM’s racing department alone currently has 530 employees. When the motorcycle manufacturer dared to restart after two bankruptcies with Stefan Pierer on the command bridge in the 1990s, a total of 280 employees were on board. Beirer: “The world championship titles are very nice, but we can be most proud of how much KTM has grown since then.” There are currently around 6,000 employees.
Many of them will be looking to Portimao next weekend, where the MotoGP season enters the second round. A sprint (Saturday, 4 p.m.) and the Grand Prix (Sunday, 3 p.m.) will take place on the spectacular “roller coaster”. Last year there were numerous crashes on the selective route in the Algarve. There were a total of five injured drivers during the previously scheduled test drives and on the race weekend. In the race, Marc Marquez caused a spectacular crash when he “cleared” local hero Miguel Oliveira.
