After a successful 2020 season, KTM has lost the advantage it enjoyed by regulation. The Austrian manufacturer, in fact, due to the concessions it had, was the only one (together with Aprilia) that could bring a new engine. In 2021, however, with the loss of concessions, the number of engines that could be developed was reduced and the original pilots were unable to participate in private tests.
Like the other teams, KTM also had to choose three tracks from the calendar designated for test drivers’ tests and had only three wild cards available. In 2021 KTM had to change the way it worked and many pieces were tried on during the race weekends. “If you are not in shape, you obviously always try different things”, said Miguel Oliveira. “We haven’t tried much, we don’t do any more tests after the race weekends. We are left with only the official tests, but before we start riders could try. This allowed us to do the work and not delegate it to engineers or testers. Furthermore, the level is very high. In such a tight grid, you can finish up front or back very quickly ”.
Pit Beirer, KTM director, acknowledged that too many tests were done over the race weekends. In this sense, 2022 should be calmer for the team, so that the engineers and riders can focus on making the most of the bike. For this reason Fabiano Sterlacchini was called, in charge of coordinating the engineering area. Francesco Guidotti has also arrived, who is now the new team principal of the team. In this way, the technical and sporting parts were divided between two people.
Mike Leitner, until now KTM technical director, played many roles. The former driver thinks that the loss of concessions was a factor that contributed to the lack of consistency of performance in 2021. “This has affected,” he acknowledged speaking to Motorsport.com. “It has also been seen with other manufacturers. I remember that Suzuki had some problems after the loss of the concessions, which they then resolved between races ”.
Suzuki returned to MotoGP in 2015, losing concessions in 2017. The Hamamatsu manufacturer, however, concluded without winning podiums and regained the advantages only to lose them again at the end of 2018. Leitner continues: “You can also see the good performances of Aprilia. The idea of the concessions is that it will bring a developer who has just entered or who is behind in the top positions. It is a good thing”.
“It changes a lot when you lose them. You don’t notice much from the outside. You have to work strategically in a different way, think differently as a constructor and as a team. Without a doubt, it will be one of the factors to consider for next year. But, as I said, everyone is happy with the fact that we have lost the concessions, because it has been shown that we have done a great job ”.
#Leitner #Losing #concessions #affected #KTM