2022 represented the 73rd year of Grand Prix motorcycle racing and for KTM it was the sixth season as a competitor in the MotoGP class. The company were present in FIM Grand Prix World Championship’s three categories and then in support series’ with over 150 motorcycles and four different models. 2022 was the longest campaign on record: twenty rounds that stretched from Australian to Argentina, from March to November in six continents and was watched at the circuits by 2.42 million spectators.
For the third year in a row there were four KTM RC16s on the MotoGP grid. KTM grasped two MotoGP victories (in Indonesia and Thailand) and a total of five podium finishes as well as 6th (Brad Binder) and 10th (Miguel Oliveira) positions in the final championship standings. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing classified 2nd from the twelve teams in MotoGP; a milestone achievement in such a young history as part of the premier class field. KTM have owned at least one MotoGP race per year for the last three seasons and now have a total of six wins.
For 2023 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing welcome Grand Prix winner Jack Miller into the works setup alongside Brad Binder with a two-year agreement. The Australian comes back into the Red Bull KTM structure after finishing 2nd for the Red Bull KTM Ajo crew in 2014 Moto3. 2023 will be Binder’s ninth season as part of the Red Bull KTM family and fourth on the KTM RC16 as KTM once again become a two-rider program.
MotoGP Legend Dani Pedrosa and Mika Kallio ensure a deeply experienced test team with even more technical resources and alliances also coming into the mix. KTM are committed and contracted to MotoGP until 2026.
MotoGP Team 2023
KTM is one of only three brands in the FIM Grand Prix World Championship to have an extensive racing presence through all three classes - Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP – and with significant degrees of success. Moto3 is the foundation level in Grand Prix and KTM boasts five Moto3 FIM World Championship titles – three achieved with help from long-term partner Red Bull KTM Ajo in 2012, 2016 and 2021 and two with a customer version of the KTM RC4 in 2013 and 2020. KTM have accumulated 80 wins since owning the very first Moto3 championship in 2012 and have helped launch or develop the careers of many current MotoGP riders through the last decade. KTM were back-to-back Moto2 world champions in 2021 and 2022 and provided a crucial route for talent to make the break in the MotoGP category. Since 2018, Miguel Oliveira, Iker Lecuona, Brad Binder, Remy Gardner, Raul Fernandez and Augusto Fernandez all came through the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team or other KTM Moto2 efforts to enter the premier category.
KTM are able to scour highly competitive development and ‘feeder’ series’ like the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, the Northern Talent Cup and the Austrian Junior Cup to identify the most promising riders and then help their progression as part of the KTM GP Academy. The factory-run system charts the leading prospects for Moto3 and Moto2 racing with the goal of eventually elevating an athlete onto the MotoGP grid. Names like Miguel Oliveira, Brad Binder, Remy Gardner, Raul Fernandez and Augusto Fernandez have all made full steps through the KTM GP Academy while 2021 Moto3 world champion Pedro Acosta has won in two classes in just two seasons of Grand Prix competition. KTM’s expanding culture in MotoGP, the presence of different models of machinery and valued partners