It’s official: there will be an orange presence in MotoGP until 2031. KTM CEO Gottfried Neumeister divulges why the company must be on the grid in the biggest and fastest motorcycle racing series in the world.
By Adam Wheeler.
Since his arrival to KTM in 2023, Gottfried Neumeister has been a semi-frequent visitor to MotoGP Grands Prix. He has been captured by TV in the emotional thrall of the action; moments of elation and frustration as Red Bull KTM go through the spectrum of racing fortunes in a series with 22 rounds from South America to South Asia and for 10 months.
Together with KTM Motorsports Director Pit Beirer and with the support of the Bajaj Mobility AG Executive Board, Neumeister recently ratified a new five-year agreement as one of five competing manufacturers in MotoGP, ensuring that KTM will be on the biggest stage for bike racing until 2031 and the Grand Prix exhilaration will continue.
KTM have been part of MotoGP for 10 years already. The first full season was in 2017 where the KTM RC16 was a young development project and top ten results were the objective. In 2018 the first podium arrived and in 2020 the first of seven victories to-date. Until the beginning of this summer KTM held the all-time top speed record at 364.2kmph. In 2027 the technical regulations will change from 1000cc bikes to 850cc and other modifications involving aerodynamics and ride height devices.
The justification for KTM’s investment in MotoGP and a workforce of 150 people for the purpose seems obvious: it’s the largest and most visible promotional global platform for motorcycling performance. But there are other considerations. Across a table in the Red Bull Energy Station at the recent Czech Grand Prix we asked Gottfried to explain…
KTM field 4 of the 22 bikes on the MotoGP grid. The KTM RC16 is the most technologically advanced product to emerge from the R&D and production facilities in Mattighofen: engine performance and resistance, electronics, aerodynamics, WP Suspension components. All cutting-edge, and endlessly transformative as lap records fall every season and qualifying times – the crucial difference between podium potential and the dash for points – often see up to 20 riders split by just one second.
“It’s the pinnacle of two-wheel motorsports,” Gottfried states. “Of course, offroad and street have their own areas of focus but the amount of attention and detail that MotoGP needs from one year to the next is incomparable. In offroad there is also a lot of analysis…but it is something in MotoGP that is super-special.”
By chasing excellence in MotoGP KTM can reap the benefits when success arrives (more on those later) but there are side benefits that feed into the evolution of the customer products, maturation and information of manufacturing processes, education of staff and angles and opportunities for promotion. “On the technical side, there is always the constant need for improvement and to benchmark and to find the last details,” Gottfried insists. “It is a driving force for the company, and there are many cross-learnings. The attitude to be out there every week to be one step faster or further is something that enlightens other parts of the company.”
Behind the clear investment in making a race team, hiring riders and traveling the world is establishing the resources to fabricate the bike and to continue to refine it but, rather than creating a MotoGP ‘silo’, the project ripples into KTM. “It is one of the most complex situations,” Mr Neumeister admits. “It costs a lot of money and there are strict technical rules. A lot of effort and engineering. You need to test, develop and simulate and that means long lead times and it’s resource-intensive at the factory and the tracks. Also, sustainable fuels and translating that wider than simply racing…and also what we do as a company.”
The KTM RC16 becomes a statement, or a symbol, of what KTM’s people, energy, vision and acumen can produce but then there has to be a more visible advantage….
Since mid-2025, Liberty Media (the conglomerate owners of F1 and companies like Live Nation) have owned MotoGP. At least two of the eleven teams in the premier class have subsequently received investment or have been acquired thanks to increased interest in the championship and those anticipating a boom of profile and audience numbers. MotoGP is already a big deal in the motorcycling world: nearly 3,000,000 people attended GP events in 2025, there are almost 40,000,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram, over 100 media partners, almost 500m dollars in revenue and an accumulative audience of 670m+.
KTM have raced and won in practically every FIM discipline: motocross, supercross, enduro, rally, flat track as well as the support classes of MotoGP like Moto3 and Moto2 to the tally of almost 540 titles, so competition has become very much part of the breed. While other championships provide exposure for KTM’s hefty and established offroad market share, the street component has more potential for the current figures of 200,000+ sales units (2025).
“The offroad segment has been steady for many years, and we come from offroad; it is our original DNA so motocross, enduro, offroad and Dakar…but it has not been growing profoundly,” Gottfried explains. “So, the street segment of the market has become a very important area for KTM. We make half of our revenue with street models. So, we want to show this expertise, and not through participating in smaller [national] championships but by being right at the top and showing that we not only can compete but try to be a benchmark for others in some aspects.”
“It’s about brand equity: whatever segment we are active in then we want to compete with the best in those sectors,” he added, underlining KTM’s objective for products that move the needle, rather than aiming for mere presence (whether a naked bike, sports bike, sports touring, supermoto, dualsport or more). KTM now also has a clear correlation with MotoGP in their portfolio.
“For street expertise [MotoGP] is really important,” he adds. “We just launched our KTM 990 RC R and our new 990 RC R Cup. This model really derives from MotoGP, even though we don’t have a V4 engine! We definitely want to extend our RC [supersport] line-up; the 990 was first and we’ll have a 790 and a 490 like other brands with mid-and-lower-class presence and in a segment that is growing. We’re really proud that the KTM 990 RC R won so many test reviews against other models. The pay-off with MotoGP is now clearer whereas before we didn’t have a full-faired bike.”
Through the screen, on the podiums, activities of elite athletes: the spread of MotoGP puts KTM into consciousness of motorcyclists, motorsports fans and the new audiences and demographics that the championship is now trying to reach. “Brand awareness is not easily quantifiable…but the fact that KTM is known from Buenos Aires to Bangkok had been helped, for sure, by MotoGP,” Gottfried states.
This not only emphasizes the ‘orange’ in people’s minds but also attracts possible business investment, although Mr. Neumeister is keen to stress that this is not a priority for KTM. “There are a lot of speculators that want to get involved in MotoGP now but the reason why we are here is not related to whether the value of our team will increase or not. We are here because we want to win and it is translating into our sales and our community. This is the reason.”
KTM’s ‘tree roots’ into MotoGP with technical presence in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup and through each level means more possibilities for youngsters and fans to attach themselves to the brand and the virulent approach to racing. “We are pushing at every level through MotoGP and this shows our commitment to the sport. We want to continue supporting young riders and we want to protect that program. In these days where it is difficult to start riding it’s important that you have products where kids can ride, whether it’s electric or other options. We have to continue working and if you create brand loyalty at a young age then it stays.”
KTM has breathed the READY TO RACE mantra for decades. Even though every component of the company had to be reviewed in the last two years and some tough decisions were made for a more streamlined focus for the future; competition was too important to reject. “All of our motorsport is a ‘north star’ for our company, and we saw in the most difficult times we were able to win and this is an emotional pull,” Gottfried stresses. “Coming to races and spending time with the teams and seeing how close everything is, gives you energy. Personally, I get motivated by the teams, and what we are doing here and in other championships inspires me to think what can we do next week, next month or in the next year to turn around KTM.”
It might be hard for fans to see behind-the-scenes but the collective effort to race and succeed has a symbolic worth, especially for those wearing the uniforms on the front line. “It’s super-important for the teams in the first place. The mechanics and staff. At the Dakar last year everything was blocked. People were paying for fuel out of their own pockets and then they were coming back not knowing if they’d get that money or even have a job. It showed the heart of the company and those who wanted to fight for it.”
“I understand completely the feeling of uncertainty and the rumors and the possibility of exiting and whether it [racing] can be afforded or whether we sell the race team or part of the race team [to investors],” he adds. “Once we could come through that and restructure the company and then make that five-year [MotoGP] commitment without wanting to sell a part of the team gives the reassurance for specialists and engineers to think ‘OK, here is my home’. It was a difficult phase, but I really hope the uncertainty is now gone because the commitment is there. The restructuring is in full swing and we more than doubled our sales in Q1 and we are about to finish Q2 in a good way. The longer the journey continues the more certainty will come. We were among the first to test the 850 engine and wanted to send those signs saying: ‘we are not out’. We want to compete and take it seriously. The cards are shuffled again for 2027. I’m really proud of all our race teams because they are doing an incredible job. It’s a lot of hard work almost every day to keep progressing. Nobody waits in racing. It’s a driving force to improve and I feel this when I wake up and when I am talking with my management team.”