until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
The last 12 months have not been an easy time for KTM, in MotoGP at least.
Sure, it won two races, with Miguel Oliveira putting in a sensational effort at Barcelona and Brad Binder risking it all on slick tyres and a wet track at the team’s Red Bull Ring home.
But for a team that went into the year expecting to fight for the title after an exceptional 2021, it was a bitter disappointment.
There are myriad well-documented reasons why, ranging from a hastily-rebuilt bike that initially didn’t work with Michelin’s new tyres to a lingering wrist injury for Oliveira that was worse than the Portuguese rider ever let on at the time.
Addressing those issues for 2022 was obviously the key focus of KTM’s winter testing programme – and it came with a dramatic internal reshuffle as well, as team boss Mike Leitner was ousted and replaced with Fabiano Sterlacchini and Francesco Guidotti, poached from Ducati and Pramac Racing respectively.
When you look at KTM’s testing results on paper, it’s not absolutely certain that it achieved its goal.
Binder was the best of its two factory riders at the end of three days at Indonesia’s new Mandalika circuit – but in a distant 11th place, he wasn’t exactly at the sharp end.
But as often happens in racing, that’s not quite the reality of the situation that KTM finds itself in.
The team is actually heading home from South East Asia to prepare for the first race of the year quietly confident that the worst of its struggles are now behind it.
“We did a lot of work,” new team manager Guidotti told The Race after the final day of pre-season testing, “and we got a lot of information, useful information, and some solutions.
“The riders’ comments weren’t always in the same way, but we can find a way to mix the several different solutions. It was really useful here [in Mandalika], despite the first day being a mess. We had a long run that looks very good, and we’re confident.
“We have to wait now for the first race, and in between there will be a lot of choices to make, from the technical side.
“It will be tough for sure, to make these decisions on stuff you have to bring all season long.
“But the new methods are starting, and I think it will be a great start. I think so, I hope so, I believe in it.”
Guidotti is not afraid to admit there’s still a lot of work to be done. But, with plenty of data gathered not just from Binder and Oliveira but with Tech3 rookies Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner also contributing, there’s plenty of numbers to crunch in search of the final solutions needed before Qatar.
“In Sepang, we weren’t really happy at the end of the test,” said Guidotti. “There were some big question marks.
“Fortunately here, we found some answers to these questions, and we’re more confident to find the right package to be ready in Qatar.
“We will confirm the new parts. From the technical side, we have to confirm them, but most are already ready, because we have to be – you can’t make too many things in two weeks. So it will be very busy, the next few days.”
Something that should aid the hard work is an improved working environment within the team. That’s one of the key reasons why Guidotti was brought onboard after rumours of a somewhat unhappy environment under previous boss Leitner.
So far still finding his feet as he only begins to rework the team into something akin to the exceptionally well-oiled machine he presided over at Pramac Ducati, Guidotti nonetheless says that the changes over the winter have already started to pay off.
“For me it was important to understand how the work was flowing inside the garage,” the Italian explained, “how the personalities work, the position of every single person.
“I got this immediately, and the team is great.
“From the factory you can feel the support, not the pressure, and this helps us a lot to work in the proper way without huge stress. The stress will come with the races themselves.
“There’s a different technical structure now, with some different people and especially with Fabiano on top.
“He’s changed quite a bit of the strategy and the method, and it seems that everything is getting there. All the technical staff got it immediately, and it seems like it was what they were looking for.
“We will need a bit of time to set up the structure and the method, but I’m really confident.
“The bike is not too far and the riders are fully motivated. They trust in the project.”
It’s not just the management that feels that way either, with the rider line-up echoing the belief that KTM is in a much better position than it was this time last year – even if it knows that the season kicks off with something of a bogey track for its bike in the shape of Qatar’s Losail circuit.
“Over the last five days of testing, we’ve got a lot more accomplished, and I’m definitely in a much happier place with my bike than where I finished the season last year,” said Binder.
“The bike is working better, I feel better, and I think once we go out and push in Qatar, we can make up a little bit of the difference and find that last little bit with our setting to get involved in the front.
“So far so good, and hats off to the team for all their hard work, because we made a good step forward with our bike.
“I’m much, much happier leaving here than I was leaving Sepang last week, and that’s enough for me to say that we’ve made a good step.
“I’m looking forward to heading off to Qatar next. We know from last year that it’s a track that will really test us, but I believe we’ve really improved how our bike works.”
