KTM: are they in a midseason slump? ?

The Pierer Mobility Group bikes this season have had a little bit of a tough go at it in recent rounds and it does seem that since the start of the season they haven't been able to keep up with the pace at which teams are making their bikes just that little bit better So why are KTM struggling and what are the problems that they've found?

To discover that, make sure you check the image descriptions!

Their machine this year is the second evolution of a totally different and new concept to KTM. Built upon not only a different type of engine that they first started using at the start of last season, but also the carbon fibre chassis that arrived in the second half of last year.

Away from the chassis, KTM chased improvement with their power delivery in 2024. One key area that KTM struggled with last season was spinning out of the corner. More specially, that spinning arrived at the point where the riders started to pick up the bike and apply the power more.

KTM opted for a mixed exhaust setup this season, with the top exhaust being the same as the one they have used for a couple of seasons, whilst the lower exhaust is entirely new and a different concept to anything they’ve had before.

The carbon fibre chassis is a big talking point. From the outside, it has received some small visual changes this year. That small metal part just next to the “B” in “Red Bull” suddenly appeared part way through the season. Whether that small metal piece has any significant effect on the chassis, that’s up for debate.

  The one thing that is interesting about this year’s KTM RC16 is that the riders have suddenly mentioned about it having a narrow operating window. This may sound familiar with KTM rider comments as for years a narrow operating window plagued the RC16, often leading it to have to run a harder front tyre than other machines and making it a bike that struggled at many tracks but when it turned up somewhere that it worked, it really did work

We can see the evidence of that ‘worry’ in the setups from the riders. Both Brad Binder and Jack Miller have suffered from a lack of front end feel this year, forcing both of them to chase a solution through suspension components.

Jack’s bike (pictured here) has been seen at the last handful of rounds with these large fork extenders fitted on top of his WP forks. Ohlins did a similar thing this year with their forks. They extended their length which increased the stroke. Supposedly the idea is to give a more linear progression through the suspension’s travel, to help load the front tyre more gradually and give better feeling and grip to the rider.

In the recent double header in Assen and Sachsenring, we spotted that Jack has even switched back to an older top triple clamp, one that KTM used at the start of last season before switching to their newer versions at the same time the carbon fibre chassis turned up

  Now to the aero stuff that’s changed this year. KTM came into the year with an updated package on what they had last season. The large ground effect side fairings have the neat little channel running along the top and also the big downwash ducts at the front of the side fairing.

But while the side fairings were new, they opted to stick with last year’s front fairing. Not only did the updated front fairing have a slightly different profile for the main set of wings but it also had a different air intake. So it’s possible that the reason why they didn’t stick with that different front fairing may have because of a slight change in the engine’s power characteristics due to that different intake shape

In a bid to find some corner exit traction, KTM added these three additional winglets on either side of the tail unit. They may look small, but they clearly have an effect. They’ve been on the bikes ever since the riders first tried them.

KTM did go full aero this year. Their front fender wing explores a new area in MotoGP dynamics by adding something little on top of the front wheel.

KTM do have some more aero updates in the pipeline too.

You can see here that the different profile front wing is still being worked on and the different air intake as well. Whatever KTM see from the data of that air intake they obviously think it’s still worth working on to figure out all the little details and eventually bring it to the track at Grand Prix weekends.

The other thing here is there updated side fairings that have now been very neatly fully sheathed. You can see how the outside surface of the side fairing is now just one smooth panel, rather than having any gaps after the downwash ducts.  

Brad Binder commented that this updated side fairing felt very slippery on the straight, thanks to the way it now channels air neatly through all parts of it due to the four or more intakes it has.

Source: MotoGP Tech