KTM has definitively changed its paradigm in MotoGP regarding riders. The Austrian manufacturer is deeply involved in promotional championships, having several potential talents tied to its teams. Consequently, it has introduced young riders like Brad Binder, Miguel Oliveira, and Pedro Acosta to the premier class.
However, the days of promoting young riders have come to an end. For 2025, KTM has opted for proven riders: in the official team, there will be Binder and Acosta, who, despite being a rookie, has already demonstrated championship potential this year; in the Tech3 team, there will be Enea Bastianini and Maverick Viñales.
All these riders have contracts until the end of 2026, making it certain that there will be no places for rookies in KTM teams in the next two seasons. KTM Motorsport Director Pit Beirer explained this decision, quoted by Crash.net: ‘If you ask me for my wish, of course, it would be always to have riders coming from our own «Academy» up there and competitive. You see how complex MotoGP is, how difficult it is. You definitely need an outstanding rookie, then it makes sense to go straight into MotoGP. That’s what Pedro has proven, that it’s possible. But also we had struggles. Even a Moto2 world champion can have a really hard time going into MotoGP’.
The German then emphasized that, considering the investment and the need to perform in MotoGP, KTM opted for proven riders instead of developing rookies: ‘If you looked into the total investment of the MotoGP class, take a budget of. many, many millions and divide it by four. Every rider package is a multi-million package… And I feel you just don’t get the time anymore in MotoGP to say «OK, let’s make a kind of schooling project». It’s super important to perform. And not just for publicity reasons. Also for the quality of the whole team. You need four strong riders even to have one winning rider in the group; you need data immediately from Friday morning to make the next step for second practice. So we just felt more comfortable to take GP winners and push the whole project, push each other’.