KTM RC-16 unveiled in Tech3 and Factory KTM colours

KTM released images of their new assault on MotoGP yesterday in Mattighofen, Austria. Both teams are fielding intensely coloured bikes and a very familiar looking correspondence between the two teams to those accustomed to the Toro Rosso and Red Bull liveries in Formula 1 for the last few years.

On a self-confessed special day, Pit Beirer, head of KTM’s motorsport operations had this to say : “For us this is another very special moment in our racing story and it’s a milestone for us to have that structure in place. Our road race project has been building consistently since 2012 in terms of structure, confidence and people. I would say we have an amazing ‘path’ in place where you can go from a Rookies bike through all the categories to a MotoGP bike. In the premier class two motorcycles is not enough to be able to develop technology up until the highest level so having a second team in the MotoGP gives us an amazing feeling that our system is in place. We will work with this programme and that doesn’t only mean young riders and trying to get them through but also the bikes for each category with a strong in-house line-up and effort. That’s why today is very special.”

Complimenting the “official” factory teams livery of a matte finish is the Tech3 outfits beautiful glossy, almost metallic looking blue highlighted with KTM’s traditional orange icing. Tech3’s owner Herve Poncharal had this to say on the presentation : “It’s been great to show the world our new livery. I saw the colours for the first time at the end of December I couldn’t believe it: this is such a cool bike. For sure, the most important for a racing bike is to be fast and we are working on that. The test we had in Sepang a few days ago was very interesting. But if the bike can be fast and good-looking, it’s a big bonus. Therefore, we are more than proud to have shown what our livery will finally be and I can’t wait to see it under the floodlights in Qatar because it will look even more amazing. Hopefully, we can see these bikes with this livery in strong positions.”

KTM will field a very talented line-up in both teams for 2019. With Johann Zarco and Pol Espargaró heading up the official factory KTM outfit, and Miguel Oliveira and Hafizh Syahrin tooling up on the Tech3 bikes. It looks to be a very exciting season around these parts.