
Huge Advantage for KTM MotoGP Going Into 2021 Season?
By Mitchell Boyes | Pics by KTM Media
In issue number 1 of Moto Rider World, we featured an interview with the KTM’s Head of Motorsport, Pit Beirer, where he said that KTM was ready to lose their concessions and if they did KTM would take it as a compliment. Well, the time has come. After their 2 wins, this year and a few podiums in the past KTM have officially lost their concessions meaning that they will lose their unlimited testing rights as well as a number of other privileges such as the number of engines allowed in a season. There is however a spanner in the works. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic teams agreed to freeze the development of both their engines and aero to save costs, what this means is that the top teams (Yamaha, Suzuki, Ducati, and Honda) have to start the 2021 season with the same engine and aero that they are running this year.

The thing is though even though KTM has lost their concessions they have confirmed that the MSMA has said that KTM can continue to develop their engine leading up to the 2021 season so the question is, could this allow to KTM to bring a “super engine” into the 2021 season? Most likely not. Because of the fact that KTM has now lost their concessions, they will have two fewer engines for the 2021 season. This means that the Austrian manufacturer will most likely focus on engine life and reliability rather than boosting the power of the 2020 engine. KTM has already proven that there 2020 engine is strong. Keep in mind that all the big factories will be running 2020 engines in 2021. The aim for KTM will be to maintain their 2020 engine performance while at the same time improving the longevity of their engines for the 2021 season.

Another reason that KTM will probably not bring a radically different engine into 2021 is the fact that they, like the other big manufacturers, will not be able to make any changes to their 2021 engine once the season starts. This means that if there is a part of the engine that doesn’t work or gives issues there is nothing the teams can do so it would be very risky to bring in a “super engine”. This is just my opinion though maybe KTM will bring a super engine next year, but we won’t really know until then.