In this article we’ll see two stories – one that’s more pleasant even if we would’ve wanted it in a different way, and one that’s not that pleasant.
The first is the MV Agusta MotoGP project, of which we’ve talked about in Misterhelmet, will be brought forward, but on top of that there’s other little bitter choices, on KTM’s part, linked to the financial roadblocks which we touched on a few weeks ago. There’s two heavy cuts that go very against the tide of KTM’s delusions of grandeur of recent times. However, they are, perhaps, understandable in regards to the financial situation we talked about.
Do you want to see what will happen, not in 2027 but much earlier, as early as next season?
There’s a bunch of things to say about all of the moves KTM is doing in its industrial and sporting plans. There’s a lot that’s not going very well, and other things going much worse, and KTM, in the last couple of years, has done an exaggerated expansion that we can almost call a delusion of grandeur, on the one hand we are about to make some adjustments, on the other we are about to make a sensational change of direction.
Meanwhile, you know that KTM had started to get inside MV Agusta at the end of 2022 – this news was brought to you by Misterhelmet, who, step by step, followed all the details. This went so well that MV Agusta told Misterhelmet to pull the brakes and had to get the lawyers writing cease and desist letters. I didn’t stop and things went exactly as I wrote. So you can trust me. Find all the articles here (also in English).
Regarding this acquisition, at the time, we immediately started talking about MV Agusta in MotoGP. I even made mockups but then nothing came of it. Evidently, KTM would’ve liked to better manage both the industrial and marketing situations for MV – they probably would’ve liked to first strengthen MV’s image, make a real bike, organise a bike that’s really from MV in MotoGP, as we mentioned about in the Boscoscuro video.
But on an sport and on an industrial level they are not going well and certain convenient choices in terms of methods and times can evidently no longer be made. There’s a need to cut costs and speed up things.
What am I talking about? You can take a look at another article in which I take over the shareholder reports from KTM and Pierer Mobility in which Pierer explains all the difficulties, one by one. There’s a good explanation here about how KTM is not doing well on an industrial level, some brands are not performing and for others, the sporting commitment, and the sporting division in itself that has to make ends meet, has brought neither results on the track nor visibility with sales.
You want some examples?
GASGAS has a minus sign on sales results despite the forcing at the sales network level and despite the media hype, in short, they’re present in MotoGP with Tech3, Acosta and Fernandez, and in Moto3 with Tech3, again, Holgado e Roulstone, but it brought no sporting results, apart from Acosta, and it brought no image results. GASGAS is not credible as a brand in regards to road motorcycling.
We said it was forceful, but evidently, KTM wanted to give it a go nevertheless thinking it could work regardless, knowing that it eluded us enthusiasts. But in fact no one would buy a road-going GAGAS since they struggle to buy even KTMs. Check out what I said back in June 17 2022.
I said that it was a façade and marketing operation and that GASGAS has no credibility at track level. This thing wasn’t discovered by me – everyone thinks like this, except that most of those who should write it go to eat in hospitality so they must have paid press invitations, dinner, hotel, trips, etc., even to the motorbike presentations and therefore certain things cannot be said.
Pierer Mobility also noticed it and for this reason it seems that GASGAS is destined to disappear from racing both in MotoGP and in the minor categories. It never existed, the motorbikes weren’t GASGAS, thus it also disappears as a brand.
Same thing for Husqvarna which also has a minus sign. Husqvarna in Moto2 races with Kalex entrusted to the Intact team which fields Agius and Darryn Binder while in Moto3, Intact, again, fields Suzuki and Veijer on KTMs. So Husqvarna is also a sham and like GASGAS, even worse, no one believes that it has any sense in competing in these championships. But even here no one has ever dreamed of saying it.
How should it end? Do you remember that the news came out that KTM would make 4 identical bikes branded with Red Bull?
I had talked about it here.
And explained it here.
It was all waiting to be decided that in 2026, or perhaps even earlier, that Tech3 GASGAS would become MV Agusta in MotoGP, with KTM bikes, and the riders should therefore be Bastianini and Vinales who are on an MV, however, nothing changes compared to the signature they put. Instead of having a KTM like Acosta’s that said GASGAS or like those from next year that should have had Red Bull written on it, they have a KTM that says MV Agusta. This is how it should go, but, beware that KTM often changes their minds about projects, things, riders and engineers.
Be careful, this is an old KTM idea, here.
In Moto2 and Moto3 GASGAS and Husqvarna should disappear within two years if not immediately. I don’t know if KTM will keep the teams, brand the Kalex and Tech3 as KTM, and I don’t know what it will do with the 4 Husqvarnas entrusted to Intact.
As for CFMOTO, however, which are still the same thing, it is a different operation, because these people pay, and should remain although it would not surprise me if we saw some effects there too.
I repeat: this thing of GASGAS becoming MV and the other cuts should happen immediately or, at the latest, starting from 2026.
This type of change of program, of sporting, organisational and industrial program, but from the point of view of the sporting part, is perhaps different from what was proposed by Fabiano Sterlacchini who left, in my opinion, slamming the door even if KTM launches declarations of love and from the friendly press he alludes to the fact that they almost kicked him out because he hadn’t done anything.
About Fabiano Sterlacchini we talked in Italian and also in English here.
What do you think? I would like to be shorter but I like to explain and justify news and rumours to you. Otherwise it becomes a random firing. Then one day we wake up and things have happened. And this way at least we know more or less why.
No comment yet, add your voice below!