KTM have the fastest Grand Prix motorcycle in the world, but performance and results depend on prime use of MotoGP’s spec-Michelin race rubber. Who is responsible (and how) for giving the KTM RC16 its powerful black ‘boots’?
By Adam Wheeler
If you are ever lucky enough to enter the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MotoGP pitbox then there’s a good chance the first person you’ll see is a tall, strapping Brit called Craig Burton. ‘Burty’ will be partially hidden by racks of tires, most of them wrapped in their warmers with blinking lights, and he’ll be obscured by boxes, work desks, tools and other storage. In some of the smaller, more antiquated circuit pitlane facilities he’ll be like a rabbit in a warren, tucked behind the row of KTM’s electronic technicians and then the walls of the main work area where the four KTM RC16 motorcycles are being feted and prepped by the rest of the crew. Burton will hustle into view when the 12kg wheel-and-tire combos needs to be shifted and slotted onto the race bikes. He is back and forth for most of the day, white gloves covered in dark dust. “It’s a job that nobody wants to do, a lot of the time,” the 48-year-old laughs. Why? “It’s a little thankless at times. You’re the guy stuck out the back and you’re also on your own and have to fix issues by yourself. You are multitasking all the time.”
Burton has been responsible for Brad Binder’s tires and brakes since the South African came into the team in 2020. Before that, he readied the material for Pol Espargaro from 2018. He is a veteran of world championship racing since 2003 and has a diverse education in the confines of a pitbox. “I’ve done all sorts: mechanic, head mechanic, a bit of gearbox stuff, spare parts. A bit of everything, master of nothing,” he chuckles, the large physical presence contains a warm and agreeable nature.
MotoGP moves with the Michelins. Whether it’s the amazing grip (lap records fall every season), anticipating the ‘drop’ (the phase where the three compound choices start to lose optimum performance in a race) or the changing front pressures partially caused by the demands of bike aerodynamics and braking power; tires are the talk. Therefore, despite how he modestly downplays his role, Burton also knows his importance to Binder and the race effort is as the same as anybody else’s.
“The biggest thing is assisting the Crew Chief and trying to take pressure off him,” he explains. “We can only use 10 front tires and 12 rears during the GP weekend so it’s about managing and documenting. You might only use a tire for a few laps and then use it again the next day. I also manage the heating time for the slicks because if you heat them too much or pre-heat them for the next day then the performance is significantly less. In recent years the job has become much more computer-orientated; looking at data, check pressures and temperatures and provide an overview for the rest of the guys. I even have scope to make a decision on a tire choice if there is no time during practice.”
“We have front slicks, rear slicks and Wets and I also manage the brakes: we have six sets and five-six sets of calipers in rotation. Ten front rims and twelve rear rims and then five sets for the Wets. You have to be organized or you’ll be massively in trouble! You have to be ‘on it’. I was very experienced when I came to the team but it still took me eight-ten months to figure out the job in the first year. And it has evolved; the planning and the heating system and the scheduling.”
Burty might keep company with cooking rubber and smoldering carbon discs for most of the time in the pitbox but that only increases the need for efficient autonomy. “I have to be very proactive because I’d waste an hour a day running around asking questions otherwise,” he says. “The Crew Chief will decide the race tire pressures, that’s his responsibility. I can give an opinion…because sometimes the engineers get so focused on the data on the screen in front of them whereas I can give an overview, even down to things like last minute weather checks and basic gut instinct!”
Changeable weather across a three-day MotoGP Grand Prix provides the ultimate head-scratcher for teams and riders. They basically have 45 minutes with Free Practice 1 on Friday morning to dial-in a circuit (and the feeling and condition of the asphalt) before every lap counts in afternoon Practice. Riders are quickly into the heat of Q1 and Q2 on Saturday morning and then the afternoon Sprint. Add the climate, and the upheaval of a 22-race championship with eight overseas events and there is a lot to predict and plan.
“Wet and dry conditions are the worst,” Burty bristles. “Many times you prepare the Wets and then just forget about them but when it’s inclement or changeable then it gets hectic. You have to be organized with your brakes as well. Every GP is like a ‘reset’ with the material because you cannot be sure that disc/pad combination that worked last time will go straight into the bike and work the same again because they are freighted around the world.”
“There is a 30-page Brembo manual to follow with the ‘maximums’ and ‘minimums’ and pad thickness,” he adds. “Some riders are very different in how they brake. Brad, for example, creates a bit more temperature than Pedro [Acosta]. So, we have to watch it. Sometimes we might have a different disc option for diameter or cooling capacity that we can jump to. With the wheels I’ll have high mileage rims, medium and low. You need a system to rotate them and I will put the older stuff on a Friday, medium for Saturday with a good set for the Sprint and then think about the best combination for the race.”
Burton is constantly shuttling to the Michelin work area in the paddock. “It can be 22-23,000 steps a day,” he says. He also has to pull and roll all the weight around: “there is a bit of physicality to it.” Then there’s the occasional inconvenience of having to bundle wheels and tires through the box and thread through groups of guests or VIPs. “I try to be fairly civil. I probably come across as quite intimidating but I’m not really.”
Like most people in MotoGP he feels the drain of the calendar and the demands of travelling. “But it’s OK when you get here,” he says, while talking in the Circuit of the Americas paddock for the USGP. “You have your home life and your work life. Two different families, two different worlds. The team is really important. Everybody offers a huge amount. The mechanics have a huge workload now, and that’s without any problems. I have full respect for them.”
When Binder does have the occasional departure from the KTM RC16 on track then Burty has his own evaluation to make for the crashed motorcycle. “If you are not sure about a rim or brakes then quarantine them until the next race,” he states. “It’s mostly common sense through checking: that the rims are running ‘true’, that there are no big chunks missing from the discs and there is no movement because the rider will feel it. You always have a back-up. You need to run three sets of brakes on Friday to at least have three sets ready for Saturday.”
Craig says he’s had some heart-raising moments. “One time, restarting my computer just before qualifying didn’t go down too well. I had to go analog, old-school and work through a table. The big thing is not to panic. Work the problem and prioritize because things can snowball in this job, you might get a bit behind and it messes up the preparation. For the race I need to get the tires on the bike and then the race tires covered up and to the grid with the discs because there is not much time for any change.” But he also knows when he’s made his contribution. “Second-guessing the Crew Chief…and being aware of things: their plan, what’s happening, the weather and the organization,” he confides.
Part of that methodology means that Burty will often be busy during the race itself. “I’m not a guy who sits and watches. I’ll always be doing something. I’ll have it on the computer…but I’ll clean wheels or be measuring and logging brakes that probably won’t be used until the following time.”
Black hands and sometimes a smudged face: Burton might not be fixing aero or assembling an engine but he’s just as ‘mechanic’ as any of Binder’s tightknit gang. “I’m a dirt magnet. Always have been!” he grins. “The wheels get dirty from the brake dust, especially the front, and the brakes have to be cleaned and measured…you just get black from the carbon!”
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