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/1277270
VOLUME 57 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 11, 2020 P135 canning two-strokes in those classes (headed, by the way, by current Ducati Corse boss Gigi Dall'Igna). But big bikes, at the highest level, have proved chal- lenging, ever since the terrifying three-cylinder Aprilia "Cube" in the then-new 990cc four-stroke class of 2002. So, what has KTM done differ- ently? Employed the three M's – Money, Method and Motivation. All are important, but the first is essential. Cost-cutting notwith- standing. Thanks to the copious gen- erosity of mega-billionaire Red Bull founder and extreme-sports fan Dietrich Mateschitz, KTM's MotoGP budget gives the fellow- Austrians a spending power Aprilia couldn't ever dream of. This is easily seen in the scale of their paddock hospitality unit, a massive double-story timber structure that includes not only offices but also a feeding area for the staff and guests, a VIP entertainment penthouse and a generous playpen for the Red Bull Rookies. It takes 27 men three days to erect it. Or was it three men and 27 days? Can't recall exactly, but you get the idea. It's the portable equivalent of a tower block. This is just the froth on the top of the stein. The real money is spent on engineering, testing and development. And the prog- ress from the first hard-to-handle bikes to the current genera- tion has been spectacular. So spectacular that it looks like it's time to believe their claim—that their determined use of a steel- tube chassis and in-house WP suspension instead of the con- ventional aluminum beam and Ohlins might be pure heresy but is no drawback at all. As they've said all along. The level has been reached by another 27 (or maybe 270) men working ceaselessly on a well-directed program, where experienced racing pit manage- ment and staff combine with original engineers to produce a continuous stream of updates and improvements, most par- ticularly helped over the past several months by the input of test rider Dani Pedrosa. None of this comes cheap. The V4's initially jerky throttle response has been tamed by changes to firing intervals to a bigger-bang configuration. One new chassis after another has been flung at the riders, now seemingly having achieved the right degree of stiffness, flex- ibility and anti-twist along with the right weight transfer. A bike that started out as a real handful emerged in 2020 as something that even class rookies could go fast on. Why rookies? There's the rub. As a beginner factory, and irre- spective of the depth of the cor- porate pockets, KTM was not in a position to attract the cream of the crop. They looked as though they had come close when they poached Zarco from Yamaha last year, but as we know that went badly wrong on both sides. This situation is subject, how- ever, to rapid change. After only three races this year, quality rid- ers like Crutchlow and Dovizioso would be glad of the chance to join the orange squad. Perhaps unfortunately, the factory had already plumped for the dis- possessed Danilo Petrucci, a GP winner but not consistent enough to be considered top- ranking. (Strangely, this situation ap- pears to have worked in reverse by flattering Pol Espargaro, who has performed sterling service for KTM, and as a result was taken up by Repsol Honda, a move that took many observers by surprise.) So far this year Pol has ex- celled with a sixth and a sev- enth, while teammate Miguel Oliveira, in his second MotoGP season, has also impressed. Even more striking, class rookie Brad Binder has been qualifying with the quick guys and setting amazingly fast laps—third fastest at the second Jerez race, less than half-a-second off winner Quartararo. Maybe better add a double B to those three Ms. CN