Big-Name Rider Reportedly Axed by KTM From Test Role
Legendary racer Jeremy McWilliams has been dropped from his role as test rider, a post he’s held for 15 years
Former GP and current road racer, Jeremy McWilliams has reportedly been relieved of his test rider duties at the Austrian company, a decision apparently taken due to the ongoing financial crisis KTM is suffering.
McWilliams had held the role of test rider for the manufacturer for 15 years, which came off the back of a very successful racing career in which the British rider won once in the 500cc Grand Prix class, while achieving several podiums.
According to German publication Speedweek, the deal between McWilliams and KTM was due to remain in place until the end of 2025, but it has instead been terminated with immediate effect thanks to KTM's ongoing financial woes. The result of this is the end a very fruitful collaboration between the Mattighofen brand and McWilliams.
In his role as test rider for KTM, McWilliams has mostly been involved in production testing, although he was also brought in during the early stages of the RC16 MotoGP bike’s development process.
More recent ex-racers in the form of Mika Kallio, Pol Espargaro and Dani Pedrosa have since carried on the MotoGP development and testing program, which makes sense as the Austrian firm has been heavily involved with wild card appearances.
The focus for McWilliams has instead centred around the development of KTM’s newest middleweight sportbike, the RC 990, which is set to represent KTM in Supersport classes against the likes of the new Ducati Panigale V2, a bike that dominated the 2024 campaign, the Kawasaki ZX-6R, and new Yamaha R9.
Before joining KTM McWilliams was part of the set-up at BMW and again played an early role in leading the development of the S1000 RR, which was then replaced by the M1000 RR that went on to win its first-ever Superbike title at the hands of Toprak Razgatlioglu in 2024.
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After graduating with a sports journalism degree, Robert joined Crash.net to lead the WorldSBK coverage in 2021, while also providing MotoGP coverage. Fulfilling that role for over three years, Robert was able to put his knowledge about all things racing to the test.
