Mike Leitner Steps
Down From KTM
MotoGP Role
M
ike Leitner will step down
from his role as Red Bull
KTM MotoGP Race Manager.
The Austrian has been at the
helm of the KTM MotoGP proj-
ect from the beginning, after a
career as Dani Pedrosa's crew
chief at Repsol Honda, and will
be moved into a consulting role
for 2022 as part of a restruc-
turing of KTM's MotoGP race
efforts.
Under Leitner's guidance,
KTM has taken five wins with
Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira
and 13 podium
finishes with Binder,
Oliveira and former
Red Bull KTM rider,
Pol Espargaro.
Leitner's replace-
ment will be Italian
Francesco Guidotti,
who was originally part of KTM's
250cc Grand Prix efforts but has
found success in more recent
times at Pramac Ducati.
Guidotti will oversee the
efforts of Binder, Oliveira and
new Tech3 signings Raul Fer-
nandez and 2021 Moto2 World
Champion, Remy Gardner as
KTM attempts to rebuild from a
season in which both Binder and
Oliveira scored wins, but equally
struggled to get into the top 10
on most weekends.
CN
IN
THE
WIND
P54
Mike Leitner
(pictured) will be
replaced by Italian
Francesco Guidotti
at the head of
KTM's MotoGP
race program.
Rea: Why I Changed Back To #65
J
onathan Rea used the final
race of the 2021 WorldSBK
title at the Mandalika Circuit in In-
donesia to return to his beloved
number 65, removing the num-
ber one he'd ceded to Toprak
Razgatlioglu in race one.
The Northern Irishman has
run number one for the past five
seasons (he won his first title
with number 65 in 2015), and
explained the decision to return
to the number immediately after
race two, that he won after a
tense battle with Scott Redding.
"I said to the guys in the
middle of the days after I lost [the
title], 'we have nothing prepared,
do you have an old #65 from
2015?' They said, 'no,'" Rea
told Motorsport.com.
"So they made that, I
don't know how they made
it, but they must have had
red stickers from the Moto-
card [merchandise website],
and they made this #65.
"When I saw it on the
bike, it reminded me of
joining Kawasaki and the
change it made in my life.
Those were really happy and
motivating times, winning my
first championship.
"I'm excited to run it next
year. Hopefully I will only
have to use it for one year.
But it's a cool number."
CN
Rea: Why I Changed Back To #65
Rea returns to his old school
number for 2022 and couldn't be
happier about it.
