Before the start of the season, KTM was called to be the third player in MotoGP after, it was expected, Ducati and Aprilia. But the reality has been different and the order has changed when it comes to the first two, since Aprilia seems to be a more balanced bike currently and Ducati depends more on the track. What has not changed, but just barely, is that third position for KTM.
And the Austrians, thanks mainly to Pedro Acosta, are managing to regularly fight for the top 5, and even for the podium occasionally and are seventh overall. The same thing happens with the manufacturers, where they are far from the lead, but they also have an advantage over the Japanese. Of course, the “Pedrodependency” is evident, since of the 205 points that they accumulate, the vast majority have been added by Acosta.
But KTM’s biggest problem this season, beyond injuries and performance, has become reliability. Suddenly and without the Austrians understanding the reason, some of their motorcycles stopped without warning. This caused situations as critical as the accident between Acosta and Álex Márquez in Montmeló, which could have been much more expensive than it really was.
KTM has always relied on safety reasons
The point is that in such a situation and taking into account the problem, KTM decided to ask the rest of the manufacturers for permission to open their engines. This is something that the regulations prohibit and, therefore, it was necessary to have the support of the rest of the manufacturers. Although Aprilia gave its approval, the rest of the manufacturers opposed it.
However, as the colleagues at Motorsport.com anticipate, the Austrian manufacturer has received the OK from the rest of the manufacturers. The process, which began with the formal opening to the MSMA, had met with frontal rejection until now. But this weekend, during the British GP, there has been consensus and the Austrians will be able to open their engines before MotorLand based on safety criteria.
In this way they will be able to take the appropriate measures in an operation that will take place the week before the Aragon GP and with the supervision of a technical member of the IRTA who will verify which part is changed before closing and sealing the engines again.
This way they avoid the penalties of introducing new engines and, in theory, they should be able to return to the engine performance that we saw at the beginning of the year. At least that’s what they hope from Mattighofen.
