KTM ready to race first home GP at Red Bull Ring

Posted on Aug 11, 2017 by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

The Austrian MotoGP weekend at Spielberg marks the home Grand Prix for the Red Bull KTM MotoGP Factory Racing Team after their public debut of the KTM RC16 at the track 12 months ago. Fresh from last weekend's race in the Czech Republic where Pol Espargaro finished inside the top ten for the very first time with a ninth position, the team has completed another day of testing there where more data was gathered for KTM's MotoGP project.

The busy schedule of back to back Grands Prix means Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith will be riding their MotoGP KTM RC16 motorcycles for seven out of the ten days that cover last weekend's Czech Republic and this weekend's Austrian races, only serving to keep them in the 'rhythm' of the race. KTM test rider Mika Kallio will be also back on track with his second wild card appearance after the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring before the summer break.
 
Many fans from the worldwide KTM family will be at the mountain based Spielberg circuit to watch the on-track action from the spectacular KTM Tribune that has over 8,200 seats. KTM is READY TO RACE at home.

Bradley Smith (Factory Rider MotoGP):
"The great thing about this week is that it started well with a day's testing at Brno on Monday; we made some really big improvements so I'm excited about that as we come here to Spielberg. Looking back on last year's test here with Mika and Tom Luethi it was a good test, so let's hope we can build on that now we're half way into our first full season too. The track layout should allow us to be quick and competitive so there's a fantastic buzz already around the garage and the paddock with the people from the factory and the fans I met here yesterday (Thursday). There's more and more people here wearing orange!"