FIRST LOOK: Red Bull KTM's 2022 MotoGP livery, title top 3 target
This is the 2022 version of the now familiar Red Bull KTM livery, to be raced by Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira during the Austrian factory's sixth MotoGP season.
The latest colours include a white background to the 'Red Bull' font but are otherwise very similar to last year.
After three wins, eight podiums and fifth in the world championship (Pol Espargaro) in a concession-busting 2020 campaign, KTM took a step back in 2021 with two victories, four podiums and sixth in the world championship (Binder).
When the RC16 was on form it proved a formidable package, as illustrated by Oliveira's Mugello-Catalunya-Sachsenring podium run, but it proved more 'miss' than 'hit' last year and consistency is a key target for 2022.
"When you start a project like this in MotoGP you want to win a race one day and to say that sounds quite simple but to actually do it is such an incredible effort from so many people involved. We did it. It’s on paper, but we also had to learn it the hard way; you win one weekend in that class but the next weekend you are fighting to qualify for Q2 because it is just so tight," said KTM motorsport director Pit Beirer.
"The target for us now is to be there consistently every weekend, get in that top five and fight for the podium at the end of season standings. That must be the goal for this season. I know it is a very high one because the other manufacturers have ambitious targets as well but we are strong now: we have the team, the base, the bike and we have the riders.”
Although Oliveira beat Binder 3-1 for podiums, the Portuguese star's results collapsed in the second half of the season with a total of just nine points, dropping him to 14th overall. Five places below his double race-winning final season at Tech3.
“Last year we had a huge step forward in four races where I scored three podiums and one win so that was quite nice. Then with the injury in the second half of the season the races became really tough: it was definitely a learning curve for me," said Oliveira, referring to the hand injury in Austria.
"I lacked consistency and of course this season I’d like to improve that. It’s never easy to go to the limit and still think about finishing the race. I would say if I'm able to score points in every GP then at the end of the championship the result might be quite different, so we’re just looking to take the maximum potential of myself, of the bike, of the whole crew and translate that into results.”
Binder meanwhile scored in all but one race, highlighted by the brave slicks-in-the-rain Red Bull Ring win, carrying him to the career best sixth in the standings. The South African's two MotoGP podiums to date have thus both been race wins.
“I’ve learnt so much over the last two seasons it’s difficult just to pick a couple things in particular,“ Binder said. “I think each year has come with it’s own sets of challenges:in my first I had to manage my expectations a bit. I often wanted too much, too soon and made a lot of mistakes.
"Last year I had to accept where we were at some points andtry and bring the bike home, which was difficult but I learnt a lot last year: I learned so much more about the category, how to save my tires better, how to manage races and I enjoyed it a lot actually. So, I’m going in to my third season understanding what I need to do to go faster and I’m looking forward to getting the year started. I’m more ready than I’ll ever be.”
Although KTM's factory rider line-up is unchanged, Francesco Guidotti has been hired from Pramac Ducati to take over from Mike Leitner as team manager.
“It is always important to do better than the previous year," Guidotti said. "To do better we need more consistent results, more consistency in the top five and on the podium. We have to develop the bike to make the riders happy, to give them the right feeling and confidence to achieve these results. Of course, their position is an important one because they need to show the potential of the bike and the project.
"They have 2-3 years experience in this category now so maybe it is the right moment to use this experience. They have already won some races so the ability and the potential is there, so we have to see it more regularly. In the last five years the results have been incredible; starting from zero like KTM did and what they achieved is unbelievable and we want to keep it going.”
While Binder is contracted to KTM until the end of 2024, Oliveira's current deal - like most of the grid - expires at the end of this season. Both riders will be on track in their new colours during the official Sepang test from February 5-6.
