KTM'S TECHNICAL DIRECTOR OF MOTOGP SEBASTIAN RISSE
P96
Interview
right entry speed. It looks like you
need to put our bike quite a little bit
out of line, put it sideways, to stop it
in the correct way. If you don't do this,
the bike will not stop, and it will never
feel ready to enter the corner. This is
a point where normally you think the
corner speed is in the middle of the
corner, but this is where actually the
key point starts.
You guys are the only ones that
run a steel chassis. What's been
some of the challenges with
making it work for MotoGP?
To be honest, the main challenge is
you must start somewhere. Of course,
you can make a lot of benchmarking,
look at different classes, put together
what you think you know and start
from there. That's what we did, and of
course, the starting point is anything
but perfect.
From there, it's not too much about
concept and believing in this solution
or that solution, but you must use what
you have, follow the rider comments
and be quite open-minded.
I think then it's [the chassis] quite
independent of things such as the
(Above) Espargaro
has been there
from the start and
has so far been the
only rider to truly
adapt to the KTM.
(Below) Pit box at
Jerez. The level
of effort with not
just the Red Bull
KTM team but also
any factory team
for that matter is
extraordinary.
starts already on the entry. When you
look at Pol, he's squeezing the bike to
the maximum on the brakes. If I look
at the data, I'm really scared. He's
completely over the limit, you think, but
he does it, and he does it reliably, and
he's not a crasher. So, it is possible
with a certain attitude and a certain
feeling for the bike, but you have to
ride it really loose.
If somebody doesn't like to do that,
already the problem starts with the
