Many discerning riders who have tested KTM's top road racing beast, the RC8R, said that the bike could be a wonderful starting point for building a new MotoGP prototype. However, KTM stays outside the liter-class top competition, but not because they're afraid...
KTM CEO Stefan Pierer gives two reasons for leaving things as they are as far as a potential MotoGP team is concerned: money and regulations stability.
Wherease the RC8R machine is very advanced and can do battle with very powerful adversaries such as the BMW S1000RR, MotoGP is a different thing at a much higher level, altogether, Pierer tells Cycle News. The level of technical sophistication in MotoGP is way higher than what other racing series are dealing with, and entering just for the kicks is not worth the effort.
Pierer estimates that 25 million Euro ($32.6 mil) could get a team close to the podium, but actually winning takes a lot more. But with all the changes brought every year in road racing, a new team with a bike under primary development will have double the trouble of aligning with the rest of the teams.
The KTM CEO admitted the company is working on a RC8R Evo bike "on a very confidential basis" and it retains the same engine format, though major upgrades are needed on the injection, throttle body diameter, bore and stroke tweaking in order to obtain the max power.
Prototype and special-design electronics will also be used, but the styling will remain the same because the RC8R "is still a very nice bike with a strong personality". We believe the Evo will be entered in the Superbike series, though some of its technology could be used for a MotoGP beast at some point in the future.
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