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P102 Interview KTM'S TECHNICAL DIRECTOR OF MOTOGP SEBASTIAN RISSE areas like the frame need itera- tions, that need track time, while the engine is something where when you have very experienced people, they can do this kind of steps in the background, in the factory, on the dyno. They have certain development targets in mind so that we didn't need a lot of iterations on the track. A lot of hard work went in there to get to that point. Any- way, it was a strong and also very reliable basis, which helped us a lot then also to improve the other things. How much has Pedrosa's injury sort of hampered you in development? He hasn't been there at all last year so it cannot be negative. We're still where we would have been, anyway. But, of course, we are looking forward a lot to that. We got a little bit of input from him. Also, of course, we are talk- ing, we try to get his experience, his view on things. Of course, the longer he's away, the more that hurts us that we can't use this opportunity. But anyway, he's on board, and as soon as he's fit and we start testing with him, I think he will be a very important source. What did he say were the strong points of the bike compared to the Honda? The stability was for him quite good. The performance of the engine was also good. Brak- ing was on a good level on the bike, and it was more about entry face, turning grip where he would work on. Can you talk a bit about the advantages of having a suspension company in- house? Yeah, for sure. The closer they [WP] are, the better. This is just 300 meters, so there are all the possibilities there to talk, to work together. Of course, a big disad- vantage is purely that the Ohlins guys have so many different bikes that they work on. All that information and knowledge is transferred through the suspen- sion company, and also between manufacturers. Of course, this It may be slim times right now, but if history is any indication for KTM Grand Prix performance, they'll get to the front eventually. cannot happen when WP is just working with and for just us. We are kind of on an island that we must develop together. And the better we work together, the bet- ter this will be. What seems to be the best way to ride the KTM? Well, if I look at the lap times today, it's clearly Pol's way at the moment! But we're working on making it more universal. I think also when we improve in other areas, he will also benefit from it. Pol is clear what kind of prob- lems he has, what he wants to have better on the bike. Pol is the fastest rider, and, of course, we need to push him forward to help him to the maximum. So in the parallel, we are working on targets that the other guys have, and the targets that Pol has. CN