KTM’s Unwavering Efforts Continue as 2027 MotoGP Bike is Being Developed
KTM is continuing its MotoGP development as its 2027 bike is in the early stages of production
Due to its well-documented financial struggles, KTM, at one point appeared to be in danger of not having a MotoGP program beyond 2025, but signs of life are certainly there for the Mattighofen brand as development on its RC16 is continuing with the new 2027 regulations in mind.
Investment from partners Bajaj Auto and CFMoto has helped steady the very rocky ship that has been the last few months for KTM, who have continued to claim that its MotoGP project would not be in danger.
At the tail end of 2024, KTM put its MV Agusta shares up for sale, which preceded its six-member board of executives being slashed down to two. More recently, CEO Stefan Pierer stepped back from his role with the Austrian company, but despite all the turmoil which has also led to a vast number of employees losing their jobs, 2025, 2026 and now 2027 in MotoGP do not appear to be hindered.
The 2027 season will see many rule changes including a drop in power for the prototype machines, going from 1000cc motorcycles to 850cc. In fact, KTM’s development for that season is already underway.
Speaking about its plans going forward, KTM’s director of motorsports, Pit Beirer, said “It’s [the 2027 bike] still in an early stage because the regulation isn’t even 100 per cent finished yet, so you cannot build a bike at this moment.
“But our engineers are here, they are working on that 2027 bike, but it’s not time to have hardware now. So, of course there is still some logical timing behind. After 25 February we have a different situation and more clearance about the really long-term future, and there is still enough time to start to work on the hardware; but for sure we are already working on a 2027 motorcycle, that’s part of the planning.”
Beirer would go on to mention that the financial struggles encountered by KTM over the last few months have not had an impact on performance-focused racing projects due to certain actions taken last summer. Said actions came about when the Pierer Mobility Group started to downsize its global racing effort.
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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.
