Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1262717
KTM PRESIDENT/CEO STEFAN PIERER: PART 2 P82 Interview KTM is "ready to race," but most racing ac- tivities, especially ones involving International travel have been canceled or delayed. What impact has the pandemic had on KTM's racing operation? There are two impacts, a positive and a negative. The negative one is we can't go racing and, as you say, that's what we love to do! On the positive side, if you don't go racing, you don't spend money for materials, for traveling, everything, you can imme- diately save a lot of money, and stay home to stay alive. But MotoGP looks like it starts again at the end of July, probably in Jerez with two races, and then via the Czech Republic to Austria, although let's see how many spectators we're allowed to have at these events. But it looks good, and I'm sure we'll have exciting races—for sure everybody is eagerly waiting to get back on track. I think the whole community and all the manufacturers sup- port the decisions that Dorna has taken. They have frozen technology for one and a half years, so we can use all the material that we have in stock for next season, as well. It was a big help that Dorna made such an intelligent decision, so I think Mo- toGP will come back stronger than before. How about off-road? Off-road is obviously our field of expertise, where we have a big extra challenge because we're now running with a third brand. That is for sure a help, because we have so many very competitive riders, and we could already hold a sort of world champi- on race with Husqvarna and KTM and GasGas only (laughs)! But it looks like world motocross starts again in Russia on August 2, and like everyone else we just can't wait. And Supercross in the USA restarted, too. Yes, in Salt Lake City after missing seven races, and Cooper Webb won for KTM on his 450 SX-F! So everybody here is really very happy to see rac- ing not only start again, but KTM starting where it left off, on top of the podium! Okay, but sorry to mention it, this year Honda beat you in the Dakar Rally for the first time in very many years! What's KTM's response to that? I think there's a positive and a negative side to this, but after 18 wins, we think it's very important that another brand to be winning, because it's in- creasing the attraction of the race. So, I think, yes, that's racing, you take it on the chin and start work- ing extra hard to try to win next time! Okay, second place is second place, it's still a podium, but to win again would also be very nice! We'll be trying our hardest to make that happen next January. Laia Sanz had a very good race with the GasGas, so will there be a larger GasGas team in next year's Dakar? "We are aiming to take sales from the Japanese, nobody else, and that's what I like to do—to go racing against the Japanese!"