SSP World Championship rules overturned: a lot of extra work for KTM, Folger & Grünwald

As reported by SPEEDWEEK.com, the Supersport World Championship will introduce new technical regulations for 2027, which will entail a ten per cent reduction in power, meaning that engines in the middle displacement category will have around 130 PS in future.

KTM and Team Freudenberg, who have been working all year to get the new 990 RC R race-ready for 2027, have therefore had to adapt the engine’s development. On Wednesday (5 August), the team from Bischofswerda was testing in Brüx (Most) with Jonas Folger, whilst on Thursday (6 August), Luca Grünwald was busy lapping the track on the 947 ccm twin-cylinder machine.

“Our main focus now is on the fact that the new regulations stipulate lower power output,” explained team boss Carsten Freudenberg in an exclusive interview with SPEEDWEEK.com. “Last year and over the winter, we geared everything towards the previous regulations; now we’ve had to adapt our project. The engine is different, as is the electronic mapping – we have to gear everything towards lower power output. We’re working on getting the bike ready for the World Championship by the end of the year, but we can’t say for certain that we’ll be 100 per cent ready.”

Luca Grünwald was a test rider for KTM for many years and knows how to tackle something like this.

Carsten Freudenberg

To gather as much information as possible, Freudenberg had Folger and Grünwald ride in the Czech Republic and also worked with two crew chiefs. “With two separate teams, we were able to collect data and impressions independently of one another,” explained the Saxon. “Luca gave us fresh feedback. He was a KTM test rider for many years and knows how to tackle something like this and what structure is needed to do it. He’s also familiar with the bike from two years ago, when development began – he played a key role in that work back then. He was able to tell us about the progress made over the past two years and gave us tips on where we can improve, particularly with regard to the geometry and suspension components.”

Different electronics have far-reaching implications

Anyone who thinks that KTM no longer needs a racing kit due to the rule change – because the 990, with its 128 PS in the production model, already has the future rated power – isn’t thinking far enough ahead. “It’s also about torque curves, and we have to ride with a different electronics system to the one in the production bike,” explained Freudenberg. “The production bike has electronics from KTM, whereas in the World Championship, standardised electronics from MecTronic are mandatory. For this, there’s a mapping that’s homologated by the FIM and must be accessible to all the manufacturer’s teams. All of this needs to be worked out, because MecTronic operates differently when it comes to engine braking or other settings such as lambda values. On top of that, we’re using a different Akrapovic exhaust – the engine’s peripherals for the racetrack are different from those on a production bike. This is being fine-tuned and pushed to the limit, just as every other manufacturer does.”