Yes, we're back again, and talking about KTM. The brand just cannot help but keep its name out of print, as the fallout of its insolvency proceedings, the billions of dollars of debt it's accrued, the countless unsold motorcycles sitting on dealership lots, its corporate fights, and its subsequent 12th-hour bailout from Bajaj have kept our fingers furiously typing over the last few months.
But this story, this story is one that's been brewing ever since AKV, the Austrian lawyers handling the brand's insolvency proceedings, laid out the brand's restructuring plan all those months ago: i.e. the future of KTM's MotoGP efforts. Or rather, the lack thereof, as AKV stated in no uncertain terms that KTM would be leaving the sport.
Yet, I was curious as to whether that guidance had changed since Bajaj's rescue of the brand, given that racing is so integral to KTM as a coming. I mean, its motto is "Ready to Race," and KTM's Pit Bierer has been adamant that they're all cool and everything is fine. But Bierer has been known to say that a lot when everything, in fact, is not fine. So I reached out to both AKV and Bajaj to find out the truth.
Yeah, things are, in fact, likely not fine.
According to AKV, in response to my questioning whether its guidance on KTM leaving MotoGP had changed, a spokesperson responded with "As far as the withdrawal from MotoGP is concerned, we are currently not aware of any reports or information to the contrary." And when I pressed Bajaj, the company responded with "The brand currently would not like to comment on the above story."
So AKV says it hasn't changed its guidance of canceling the program, and Bajaj says they don't want to comment. Neither bodes well for KTM's racing efforts, now does it? But neither are these statements confirmation of the brand pulling out of MotoGP, at least from Bajaj.
The Indian motorcycling giant is likely in the midst of doing its best to pull KTM's consumer arm back from the brink of bankruptcy. They also have to figure out how to restart production—again—and ameliorate many of the working relationships that it had with the brand's parts supply chain. There are countless unsold motorcycles to deal with, a handful of recalls to be concerned about, and the matter of who becomes the captain of the ship once the dust settles. I sincerely doubt that Neumeister will be allowed to continue to be CEO, but that's my own belief—there's too much of a throughline between him and outgoing CEO Stefan Pierer.
Likewise, we knew that much of the future of RedBull KTM's team likely rested on finding a new owner. That's why there were rumors of Lewis Hamilton buying the team, though those rumors remain unfounded as of present. Furthermore, there's a rumor that KTM might be looking to offload its two grid spots in a high-priced sale, and we know that both BMW and Suzuki are champing at the bit to return to the premier motorcycling event, though Dorna—MotoGP's current, but likely not future management—are being hard to work with.
Honestly, I think the writing is on the wall for KTM in MotoGP. And that's why we're likely to see Pedro Acosta jump ship from the team in the next few weeks. But the question remains, who will take its spot, where will the team's riders go, what happens to the team's infrastructure, and who's gonna tell Bierer the bad news?
