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Moto3, The smallest displacement category toward a one-make: will KTM give up its nursery?

KTM's eventual exit will not speed up the evolution of the category, which is heading toward an established destiny, any more. Triumph and Ducati with their 'mono' bikes might be interested in building a nursery of young riders as the Mattighofen manufacturer did with Binder, Acosta and Alonso

Moto3: The smallest displacement category toward a one-make: will KTM give up its nursery?

So far, regarding KTM's economic crisis, all that has been talked about is the problem that exiting MotoGP would bring to the championship, which would deprive the category of two teams and four competitive riders such as Binder, Acosta, Bastianini and Vinales. But what could happen to Moto3 where KTM holds a significant share of participants, 16 out of 26 according to the latest list of starters?

As things stand, it would seem to be a genuine disaster, although since most of them are private teams, and not directly supported by the manufacturer, they could probably continue with the material currently available.

Such a situation would probably only lead to accelerating a process that in Carmelo Ezpeleta's mind is already underway: bringing Moto3 to look more and more like Moto2, that is, making it a single-engine category.

The change would make sense because at present Moto3 seems to be more expensive than Moto2, precisely because of the rivalry between KTM and Honda and the difficulty of extracting more and more performance from the small 250 cc single-cylinder machines.

It is also true, however, that other manufacturers may be interested in entering. We are thinking not only of new Chinese manufacturers. But also, for example, the possibility for Triumph or Ducati to enter with their powerful new single-cylinders.

We talked about this extensively on GPOne months ago, but in light of what is happening the evolution of the smallest category could be accelerated.

Moreover, the regulatory change in MotoGP, whose displacement will be reduced to 850 cc will also mean the loss of the only similarity between the two categories (1 single cylinder, bore 81mm).

We recall just for the record that the single-cylinder was already at risk at the debut of the category in 2012.

In the smallest displacement, however, developments are the responsibility of the parent company (but this is not entirely true, because the best-funded teams work on the details by now). It is true, though, that in 2021 a brake was placed on development for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. So already last year KTM brought to the track the KTM 250 RC4 whose specifications by regulation must remain unchanged until and including 2026.

At the moment the Moto3s are true prototypes. A chassis, until 2024, had a price cap of 85,000 euros, with 60,000 euros of cost for six engines granted for each rider.

With the above in mind and with a future of the category already largely written, the eventual exit of KTM should not weigh much on the category that is set to become a carbon copy of Moto2, since on the horizon, barring as we said the unpredictable entries of Far East manufacturers, it does not seem that the traditional ones, Honda and Yamaha, are interested.

There is one last detail: on the Austrian TV station Servus TV, Pit Beirer admitted that the Mattighofen manufacturer's season in MotoGP has not been what he had hoped for, even though second place in the Constructors' World Championship is something to "be proud of."

The most interesting aspect of Beirer's words, however, is that KTM considers Colombian David Alonso, the last Moto3 world champion at only 18 years old, as the new Pedro Acosta.

Alonso will race in Moto2 this year. "Of course, we also want to see him in the MotoGP class sooner or later," Beirer added, "And of course it would also be a dream for us to have a rider on our team who started with us in the Rookies Cup and then made a career in Moto3. David might be such a special rider and we will look after him as well as Pedro so we don't lose him."

Will KTM be willing to give up its prolific supply chain (and also will Red Bull)?

 

Translated by Julian Thomas

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