Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Development of the RC16

KTM have a well established presence amongst off-road motorcycle sport and decided to enter 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 Luthi.

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.

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.

MotoGP

(key)

Year	Motorcycle	Tyres	No.	Riders	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	18	Pts	Pos
2017	KTM RC16	M			QAT	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	CZE	AUT	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL		84	10th
			36	Mika Kallio									16		10			11				Ret
			38	Bradley Smith	17	15	16	14	13	20	DNS	Ret	14	Ret	18	17	10	19	17	10	12	11
			44	Pol Espargaró	16	14	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	18	11	13	9	Ret	11	11	10	11	9	10	Ret
2018	KTM RC16	M			QAT	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	CZE	AUT	GBR	RSM	ARA	THA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL	47*	9th*
			36	Mika Kallio				10			Ret		DNS
			38	Bradley Smith	18	Ret	16	13	14	14	Ret	17	10	Ret	14
			44	Pol Espargaró	Ret	11	13	11	11	11	11	12	Ret	DNS
			76	Loris Baz