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In the last six months, a lot of negative news has come to light in connection with Pierer Mobility AG and KTM. At the start of the insolvency proceedings under personal responsibility, which last 90 days and end on February 25, the future of motorsport activities was also at stake. But since the first creditors' meeting on December 20 and the general meeting on January 24, it has become apparent that the creditors will agree to liabilities of 30 percent, as the necessary fresh equity can be raised by existing investors such as Bajaj and CFMOTO as well as by up to 20 new investors. Insolvency administrator Peter Vogl is said to have already received binding commitments for up to 900 million euros.
That is why he recognized motorsport spending as an urgently needed marketing vehicle in the restructuring concept and the new business plan. The fact that company boss Stefan Pierer (68) made his previous CO-CEO Gottfried Neumeister (47) the new Chief Operating Officer on January 23 and himself stepped back into the second row as CO-CEO was also seen as the right step by the creditors. And when Pierer's confidant Stephan Zöchling was presented as the new Chairman of the Supervisory Board on January 27, there was an audible sigh of relief in Mattighofen and Munderfing. The French Red Bull KTM Tech3 team owner Hervé Poncharal, who has been allied with KTM in two GP classes since 2019, has always firmly believed in the continued existence of KTM and the MotoGP plans.
KTM Motorsport Director Pit Beirer, however, had to cut costs significantly in the motorsport budgets, and the number of factory riders was reduced by twelve to 40. As a result, a wind tunnel test was cancelled in November, but the Jerez test was carried out as planned in December. What impact has the KTM insolvency had on the Tech3 team? GPone.com spoke to Hervé Poncharal about this difficult phase.
Hervé, the financial turmoil has certainly given you a few more grey hairs recently. How badly has the Tech3 team been affected by the austerity measures?
"First of all, I would like to say that when you as a Tech3 team have a partner like Pierer Mobility, you stick together through thick and thin. Then you push for success when everything goes according to plan. But the real strength in working together shows itself when times are not so rosy. And this winter was anything but easy. My racing company Tech3 has existed since 1989. Tech3 has lived through some comfortable phases since then, but we also experienced stormy and difficult times that were life-threatening for our company. I know that life is like a rollercoaster. When you run a company, you have ups and downs. You have to stick together and pull together in critical phases like these. Unfortunate times show the true quality of a cooperation. That's why we have been studying a lot with Pit Beirer and Jens Hainbach about how we can remain competitive on the one hand, but at the same time make cost savings".
We heard that, for example, the Tech3 hospitality will no longer be coming to the Grand Prix.
"That's not exactly true, because for the last two years we have had a GASGAS hospitality in the paddock. That was done to increase the comfort for the team a little, but at the same time it was to increase the visibility of the brand, it was a marketing thing, so to speak, that had no impact on performance. In the future we will take our smaller Tech3 hospitality back to the tracks in Europe. It will be perfectly adequate. We simply examined all aspects that will not have a negative impact on the team's results. Because we have to reduce costs to show those people who are now saving the company that we want to do our part to rehabilitate the company. We cannot carry on as before and do not want to ignore the financial problems. We are part of the KTM family and are now tightening our belts. We are not turning a blind eye and not ignoring the challenges that the KTM board has to overcome".
There were a few weeks in the autumn when there was little positive news and the worst had to be expected.
"I always ran my racing company Tech3 in such a way that it was on a financially secure footing. However, we always invested everything that was beneficial for performance. But in the areas where we could save money, we tried to be cost-efficient. For example, we flew economy class and booked double rooms for the mechanics. But when it comes to performance, KTM has never made any restrictions, and neither have we as a team. I am glad that we can say the same for 2025. We have the same on-track support team as before, we have the same number of engineers and mechanics."
"Nothing has changed in terms of manpower. The number of freight containers for Sepang is identical to the number we sent to Malaysia a year ago.There is no change, because that would be a mistake. Nevertheless, we want to show our commitment to the people responsible for driving the restructuring process at KTM. These people should see that they can rely on the racing people when it comes to saving money where possible. At the same time, however, we will hold the KTM flag high and pay due respect to the tried and tested slogan "Ready to Race". And we are not only "Ready to Race", but also "Ready to Win", as KTM already demonstrated in January with Daniel Sanders' victory at the Dakar Rally. It was the perfect way to open the 2025 racing season".
