KTM with carbon instead of steel: Where is the religion?
by Günther Wiesinger
Tuesday, 3. October 2023 18:57
Praise be to what makes fast - the highest commandment in racing. That's why no one at KTM dwells on the question of why the steel chassis was replaced by a carbon frame in MotoGP. It is simply better!
The Austrian Pierer Mobility AG has already won five world championship titles in the Moto3 World Championship since the introduction of this 250cc four-stroke single-cylinder class eleven years ago with Sandro Cortese (KTM/2012), Maverick Viñales (KTM/2013), Brad Binder (KTM/2016), Albert Arenas (KTM/2020), Pedro Acosta (KTM/2021) and Izan Guevarra (GASGAS/2022) against Honda.
In addition, the Upper Austrians have already celebrated their 100th GP victory in road racing with Arenas in Qatar on 8 March 2020. Only 22 of these GP successes came in the two-stroke era (125 and 250 cc) with an aluminium chassis. KTM also caused a stir in the Moto2 class with the trellis steel frame from 2017: in 2017 Miguel Oliveira was runner-up in the world championship, in 2019 Brad Binder lost the world championship to Alex Márquez by only three points.
So there were no long discussions at KTM when the factory from Mattighofen and Munderfing decided to enter the MotoGP World Championship for 2017. The RC16 factory bikes were not only fitted with the in-house WP suspension (all other factories use Öhlins), but the choice of frame material was also not debated for long.
After all, KTM CEO Stefan Pierer describes the steel frame concept as a "religion", it is part of the KTM DNA, because all production bikes from Mattighofen are sold with steel frames. "We are the world market leader in steel frame technology," Pierer stated unequivocally in an interview with SPEEDWEEK.com in August 2018.
The KTM brand, which comes from off-road sports, was initially ridiculed by all competitors, experts and top riders because of this concept. Motto: This concept can suffice in motocross and in Moto3, in the MotoGP World Championship it will not lead to the goal, the sceptics and know-it-alls said.
When Red Bull-KTM factory rider Pol Espargaró roared to 3rd place at the 2018 Valencia GP and even Marc Márquez rode disrespectfully up and away, the voices grew quieter.
Meanwhile, KTM holds second position in the Constructors' World Championship behind Ducati, and not for the first time. In addition, Binder 2 and Oliveira have already fired eight MotoGP victories on the KTM RC16 with the KTM trellis steel frame.
Currently Brad Binder and Miller are in a respectable 4th and 9th place in the World Championship.
Misano: KTM took the opposition by surprise
But at the Misano GP (8-10 September) KTM took the MotoGP competition by surprise with a new carbon chassis, piloted by test rider Dani Pedrosa thanks to a wildcard in the sprint and a fabulous fourth place on Sunday. The experts were amazed, not only at the riding skills of Pedrosa, now 38, but also at the frame material previously frowned upon at KTM.
On Friday in Japan (29.9.) Binder and Miller compared their previous steel chassis with one carbon bike each, on Saturday they only had two carbon versions each in the pits.
The result: Best time for Binder on Friday, both riders directly in Q2, after that grid position 3 for Miller and grid position 5 for Binder. In the sprint the Red Bull-KTM duo shone with 2nd (Binder) and 4th (Miller). On Sunday Miller saved the KTM honour with 6th place, Binder crashed.
And no one has asked the question yet: What has become of the previous KTM religion of steel? Why have all the principles been thrown overboard?
Ing. Hubert Trunkenpolz, member of the board of Pierer Mobility AG, stated in an interview with SPEEDWEEK.com: "It's quite simply explained! No other motorbike manufacturer has as much carbon expertise as the Pierer Group - see X-Bow, Freeride and FELT Bicycles. Carbon is the logical further development of the steel frame, which does not mean that we are giving up the trellis frame on the production bikes. But in motorsport, the carbon chassis is the future - and we are only at the beginning of the development.
We are open-minded towards all target-oriented ideas. Not so long ago we were even thinking aloud about an aluminium chassis. Stefan Pierer and I, in consultation with Pit Beirer, immediately shelved these plans and instead gave the go-ahead for the development of the carbon chassis a year ago! It seems to have been the right decision..."
KTM: Carbon excellence also in the X-Box sports car
While KTM has the carbon swingarms for the RC16 produced at KTM Technology in Salzburg, the production of the carbon frame was "outsourced" to Bräutigam in Germany, as Hubert Trunkenpolz confirms.
However, the KTM sports car X-BOW GT-XR with the legendary turbocharged 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine from Audi AG with a whopping 500 hp is built at Brebec in Slovakia and fitted with a carbon monocoque from CarboTech's successor company.
At KTM, meanwhile, they stress that one should not put five-year-old quotes from company boss Stefan Pierer on the gold scale.
"Because technology continues to develop," points out Hubert Trunkenpolz, whose initial letter T in the family name refers to the T of KTM (which originally stood for: Kronreif & Trunkenpolz, Mattighofen).
And Konrad Adenauer already coined the saying: "What do I care about what I said yesterday?