KTM to Enter MotoGP World Championship in 2017

KTMannounced plans to enter the MotoGP World Championship with a brand new V-4 prototype to be called the KTM RC16. KTM would be the latest major manufacturer announcing plans to enter the series, following the current ongoing projects by Aprilia and Suzuki.

Chief Executive Officer Stefan Pierer announced the news in an interview with Swiss site Speedweek.com, saying the company plans to reveal the RC16 in fall 2015 and spend 2016 developing it. Pierer says he hopes to make the RC16 available for race teams for the 2017 season, though a wild card entry in 2016 is not out of the question.

Pierer says the RC16 will be a successor to the aging RC8 superbike but noted the RC16 is designed specifically for track use and not for road use. It will be powered by a 1000cc V-4 with a tubular steel frame like KTM’s Moto3 racer. Like other KTM motorcycles, the RC16 will use WP Suspension which is currently adopted on its Moto2 racers.

Though primarily produced for GP teams, Pierer says recreational riders may be able to purchase the RC16. Pierer says KTM may sell up to 100 RC16 bikes a year, priced from 150,000 to 200,000 euros (US$200,780 to $267,700) each, though they may not be quite the same spec as the GP prototypes.

Pierer also says KTM does not plan to enter a full factory team, instead following its current model in the Moto3 class of supplying machines to race teams, with some teams like Ajo Motorsport.

[Source: Speedweek.com; Photo by KTM]

By Dennis Chung