KTM’s Moto2 plans: The timing must be right for future MotoGP riders

One by one, the manufacturers are announcing their factory riders for the 2027 and 2028 MotoGP World Championships. Ducati (Marc Marquez, Pedro Acosta) has taken the lead, with Aprilia (Marco Bezzecchi, Pecco Bagnaia) and Yamaha (Jorge Martin, Ai Ogura) following suit. KTM is expected to announce its riders next week, in the run-up to the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring (10–12 July).

Alex Márquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio will ride for the Red Bull KTM factory team, whilst a decision is still pending at Tech3. Maverick Viñales does not expect to continue with KTM and had some harsh words for his employer at Assen. Tech3 boss Günther Steiner favours a line-up comprising one established rider and one youngster for the next two years. Should Viñales no longer be considered, the choice will be between Brad Binder and Raúl Fernández, as well as Moto2 World Championship leader Manuel González and third-placed Senna Agius, both of whom are currently under contract with the Memmingen-based Intact team.

Pit Beirer

Foto: Gold & Goose

Only once the MotoGP line-ups have been finalised will KTM’s racing director, Pit Beirer, turn his attention more closely to Moto2 and Moto3, as he revealed to SPEEDWEEK.com in a one-on-one interview. In Moto2, with the season just past the halfway mark, Collin Veijer and José Antonio Rueda are only 10th and 17th in the overall standings respectively; neither has a ride lined up for 2027 as yet, so their managers are sounding out other teams.

Pit Beirer: “The lads are developing very dynamically”

“We’re trying to put this issue on the back burner for a bit,” remarked Beirer. “The young lads are developing very dynamically and you have to give them all a bit of time. Collin has had some standout moments where we’ve seen that he can make progress. But in between, there were also phases where we wondered whether it would ever work out. That’s why we’re not quite sure yet where this journey is heading. And then there’s Rueda. He had that nasty crash last autumn and then had to cope with the switch from Moto3 to Moto2. We need to give him time. We’ve already seen plenty of standout laps in Brno – the lad certainly knows how to ride a motorbike. That’s why we want to leave everyone we have where they are, with peace of mind, and haven’t planned any changes.”

“We still have two MotoGP places to fill, together with Günther Steiner,” emphasised the former Motocross World Championship runner-up. “We also need to look ahead a bit to see who gets a contract and for how long. After all, we mustn’t forget our youth programme, which we call the MotoGP Academy. We need to plan so that, at the right time, we have someone coming up through the ranks who’s ready for the big bikes.”

We need to look ahead a bit to see who gets a contract and for how long.

Pit Beirer

If Red Bull KTM Ajo continues in Moto2 with Veijer and Rueda, this means there will be no chance of promotion for Alvaro Carpe or Brian Uriarte at the Austrian manufacturer; they are currently second and fourth in the Moto3 World Championship – well behind title contender Maximo Quiles. If this duo stays on, KTM will also not exercise its right of first refusal to bring the winner of the Red Bull Rookies Cup into the Moto3 works team. In the junior class, the Spaniard Benat Fernandez (18) is currently leading the way; last year he was the final world champion in the Supersport 300 class, which was subsequently scrapped.