Günther Steiner (Tech3 KTM): “We need new funding, otherwise we’ll just be spinning our wheels”

With a total of 261,831 spectators over four days, the 2026 German Motorcycle Grand Prix set a new record at the Sachsenring for the fifth year running. The new record was made up of 70,754 visitors on Thursday and Friday, 92,654 on Saturday and 98,423 fans on race day – the grandstands were sold out on Saturday and Sunday.

The MotoGP at the Sachsenring is Germany’s second-largest single sporting event; only the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring attracts more spectators. This is further proof that the premier class of motorcycling is booming. Günther Steiner is also delighted by this development; together with other investors, he took over Hervé Poncharal’s Tech3 racing team last year and is currently busy putting together an attractive package for his sponsors for the coming years.

Steiner: “Companies from outside the industry don’t realise just how big the sport is”

“MotoGP isn’t just of interest to partners working in this sector, but also to those from outside it,” noted the South Tyrolean in a one-on-one interview with SPEEDWEEK.com, having been blessed with good contacts thanks to decades of experience in motor racing. “It’s very interesting when you talk to people like that: in the past, we were a bit too complacent with them, but they’re interested. If you want to raise money, you can’t just stay within this circle. Otherwise, we’re just turning the money round; we need to bring in new money. The sport is of interest to companies from outside, but many don’t realise just how big the sport is. First, we need to explain to the companies what we do, how good the sport is and what it has to offer. Then people will take an interest in it too. 300,000 people come to Le Mans and well over 200,000 to the Sachsenring. That’s what you have to explain to the major external sponsors.”

Steiner is astonished by the fact that the MotoGP at the Sachsenring is one of Germany’s biggest sporting events. And yet it remains an almost regional event that receives hardly any coverage in the major national media and is therefore only known to a limited extent beyond the circle of motorbike fans.

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