Red Bull KTM Factory Racing is the factory team of KTM active in the MotoGP World Championship supported by sponsor, drinks manufacturer Red Bull.

History Development of the RC16 KTM have a well-established presence amongst off-road motorcycle sport and entered MotoGP in the premier class of motorcycle road racing.

In September 2014, Pit Beirer announced that KTM were to start in MotoGP for 2017, even though work on the project had not started. A year and a half before their MotoGP debut, KTM tested their V4 engine for the first time, a configuration designed to use a steel trellis frame chassis only used by this team.

In October 2015, the KTM RC16 was track-tested on for the first time at the Red Bull Ring with Alex Hofmann as the first test rider on the bike. The team carried out further testing at circuits such as Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Circuito de Jerez, Brno Circuit, Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli and Mugello Circuit whilst using test riders, Mika Kallio, Randy De Puniet, Karel Abraham and Thomas Lüthi.

Presentation and Wildcard The team presented the RC16 to the public for the first time before the start of the 2016 Austrian GP with test riders Kallio and Hofmann doing a couple of laps before announcing that Mika Kallio would have a wildcard entry for the 2016 Valencian GP aboard the RC16, making the official debut race for the machine and KTM into the MotoGP category.

In November 2016, Kallio rode the RC16 as a wildcard at the final race in Valencia, qualifying in 20th place. After initially keeping up with the pace during the opening stages of the race, the bike's rear wheel sensors malfunctioned forcing Kallio to retire from the race.

Final Testing Pol Espargaró and Bradley Smith tested the RC16 during the first official winter test, just one day after the final grand prix of 2016 season at Valencia. This was the first time that the pair had ridden KTMs after leaving the Tech 3 team where they had been teammates for three years.

KTM had a private test at the Jerez circuit towards the end of November. Due to Espargaró still being under contract with Yamaha at the time, he was unable to test which meant that Mika Kallio stood in for him. In January and February, KTM took part in the official pre-season tests at Sepang International Circuit and Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit as well as the final test at Losail International Circuit just two weeks before the first Grand Prix of 2017 in March.

The team unveiled the bike at their headquarters at the end of February along with Red Bull KTM Ajo's Moto3 title defender and their new Moto2 KTM competitor.

2017 Debut Season The team made their debut in the MotoGP category at the 2017 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix; qualifying in 22nd and 23rd, they were able to finish in 16th and 17th six seconds apart. The team scored their first points in their second grand prix in Argentina, finishing 14th and 15th.

At the 2017 French motorcycle Grand Prix Espargaró finished in 12th place in the race which was the best result until he finished in 11th place in the Dutch TT, and qualified 7th at the 2017 German motorcycle Grand Prix in which Mika Kallio made his second appearance on the RC16 as a wildcard.

Kallio finished 16th whilst Espargaró and Smith collected more points. At the 2017 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix Espargaró finished in 9th which was the team's first top 10 in a MotoGP Grand Prix. Pol would reach this feat again at the 2017 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix.

2018 season Expectations from KTM were to step up their results. This had happened at the start of the season with Espargaró finishing in the points a total of seven times in a row. Smith struggled to get the same start to the season that Espargaró had. At the 2018 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix it was announced that Johann Zarco would replace Smith for 2019.

During the 2018 German motorcycle Grand Prix Kallio suffered a major knee injury during the practice sessions. Injury would then befall Espargaró who broke his collar bone in a warm-up session in preparation for the 2018 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix.

Smith would be the stand-alone KTM factory rider, with Espargaró trying to return from injury too soon resulting in poor results and even not starting a Grand Prix. After a tough season and not meeting as many expectations, the 2018 Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix would become the most successful day in KTM so far in Grand Prix Racing. KTM and Espargaró would, respectively, take both their first podiums in the top class of motorcycle grand prix racing with Smith ending his KTM career with a personal best finish with 8th place in the torrential rain of Valencia.

2019 season In August 2019, contracted rider Johann Zarco announced he would not ride for KTM in 2020. In September 2019, the KTM team announced Zarco would not ride in the remaining six events from 22 September, with test rider Mika Kallio taking his place.Zarco axed for 'constant bad words in press, rider safety, says KTM Visor Down, 20 September 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019

2020 season On 9 August 2020, KTM secured their first MotoGP win, and their first dry weather podium with Brad Binder at the Czech Grand Prix.

The KTM GP Academy

The KTM GP Academy was created as a talent filtering system to identify, support, and nurture some prospects from development series like the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, the Northern Talent Cup, and the Austrian Junior Cup through the learning process of Moto3 and Moto2. The factory-run structure is established with the cooperation of key teams and partners such as Red Bull KTM Ajo and Red Bull KTM Tech3, with the goal of eventually elevating an athlete onto the MotoGP grid. Names like Brad Binder, Augusto Fernandez, Miguel Oliveira, and Remy Gardner have all made full steps through the KTM GP Academy while Pedro Acosta has won two titles in just three seasons of Grand Prix competition.

By rider

Year Class Team name Bike Riders Races Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points Pos.2019MotoGPRed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC16 Johann Zarco13000027 (30)18th Pol Espargaró18000010011th Mika Kallio60000726th2020 Brad Binder1411028711th Pol Espargaró1405211355th2021 Brad Binder1811001516th Dani Pedrosa10000625th Miguel Oliveira1813019414th2022 Brad Binder2003011886th Miguel Oliveira20220014910th2023 Brad Binder2005012934th Dani Pedrosa200003221st Jack Miller20010016311th2024 Brad Binder 19 0 1 0 0 217 5th Pol Espargaró 3 0 0 0 0 12 23rd Dani Pedrosa 1 0 0 0 0 7 24th Jack Miller 19 0 0 0 0 87 14th2025 Brad Binder22000015511th Pedro Acosta2205013074th2026 Brad Binder 7 0 0 0 0 42* 12th* Pedro Acosta 7 0 2 1 0 103* 4th*

MotoGP (key) YearMotorcycleTyresRidersRacesRider's standingsTeam standingsManufacturers' standings No. Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Points Pos Pts Pos Points Position KTM RC16 QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 36 Mika Kallio 16 10 11 Ret 11 24th colspan="2" 695th 38 Bradley Smith 17 15 16 14 13 20 DNS Ret 14 Ret 18 17 10 19 17 10 12 11 29 21st8410th 44 Pol Espargaró 16 14 Ret Ret 12 Ret 18 11 13 9 Ret 11 11 10 11 9 10 Ret 55 17th QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA THA JPN AUS MAL VAL 36 Mika Kallio 10 Ret DNS 6 25thcolspan="2" 725th 38 Bradley Smith 18 Ret 16 13 14 14 Ret 17 10 Ret 14 C 16 13 15 12 10 15 8 38 18th 89 9th 44 Pol Espargaró Ret 11 13 11 11 11 11 12 Ret DNS Ret DNS 21 13 Ret Ret 3 51 14th 76 Loris Baz C 0 NC QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA THA JPN AUS MAL VAL 5 Johann Zarco 15 15 13 14 13 17 10 Ret Ret 14 12 Ret 11 27 (30) 18th1348th1115th 44 Pol Espargaró 12 10 8 13 6 9 7 11 12 11 Ret 9 7 DNS 13 11 12 11 10 100 11th 82 Mika Kallio 17 Ret 14 Ret 15 12 7 26th SPAANCCZEAUTSTYRSMEMICATFRAARATEREURVALPOR33 Brad Binder 13 Ret 1 4 8 12 Ret 11 12 11 Ret 7 5 Ret 87 11th 222 3rd 200 4th44 Pol Espargaró 6 7 Ret Ret 3 10 3 Ret 3 12 4 3 3 4 135 5th QATDOHPORSPAFRAITACATGERNEDSTYAUTGBRARARSMAMEEMIALRVAL33 Brad Binder 14 8 5 Ret 13 5 8 4 12 4 1 6 7 9 9 11 10 7 151 6th 245 6th 205 5th88 13 15 16 11 Ret 2 1 2 5 Ret Ret 16 14 20 11 Ret Ret 14 94 14th QATINAARGAMEPORSPAFRAITACATGERNEDGBRAUTRSMARAJPNTHAAUSMALVAL33 Brad Binder 2 8 6 13 Ret 10 8 7 8 7 5 11 7 8 4 2 10 10 8 2 188 6th 337 2nd 240 4th88 Ret 1 13 18 5 12 Ret 9 9 9 9 6 12 11 11 5 1 12 13 5 149 10th

Year Bike Tyres No. RidersRaceRider's standingsTeam standingsManufacturers standings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Pts Pos Pts Pos Pts Pos KTM RC16 POR ARG AME SPA FRA ITA GER NED GBR AUT CAT RSM IND JPN INA AUS THA MAL QAT VAL 26 Dani Pedrosa 76 44 32 21st 456 4th 373 2nd 33 Brad Binder 6 171 135 21 62 5 Ret6 45 39 22 Ret4 145 44 Ret2 6 4 32 Ret5 57 32 293 4th 43 Jack Miller 74 6 Ret9 33 Ret 76 63 Ret 87 155 8 Ret 147 64 79 7 16 86 9 Ret 163 11th QAT POR AME SPA FRA CAT ITA NED GER GBR AUT ARA RSM EMI INA JPN AUS THA MAL SLD 26 Dani Pedrosa Ret3 7 24th 304 6th 327 2nd 33 Brad Binder 2 24 9 6 8 8 106 66 98 Ret4 57 46 4719 6 8 6 7 69 DNS7 69 217 5th 43 Jack Miller 21 55 137 Ret Ret8 Ret7 16 11 13 127 195 15 88 16 Ret 108 11 5 DNS8 13 87 14th 44 Pol Espargaró 17 119 10 12 23rd 2025 THA ARG AME QAT SPA FRA GBR ARA ITA NED GER CZE AUT HUN CAT RSM JPN INA AUS MAL POR VAL 33 Brad Binder 88 7 Ret9 13 6 Ret 14 Ret9 9 11 76 8 75 7 Ret6 10 12 4 8 9 59 88 155 11th 462 4th 372 3rd 37 Pedro Acosta 196 89 Ret7 8 7 4 68 45 8 49 Ret9 32 43 2 44 Ret5 173 25 53 23 32 F 42 307 4th THA BRA USA SPA FRA CAT ITA HUN CZE NED GER GBR ARA RSM AUT JPN INA AUS MAL QAT POR VAL 33 Brad Binder 76 Ret 12 114 Ret 7 11 42* 12th* 145* 5th* 124* 3rd* 37 Pedro Acosta 21 79 38 10 54 RetP 2 69 103* 4th*

References

External links