After the ups and downs in the 2021 season, KTM has made changes to its ranks. Fabiano Sterlacchini already joined the Austrians in the summer from Ducati. The Italian has taken over as MotoGP’s head of development and will coordinate the technical departments at Munderfing and Mattighofen in Austria.
KTM has just announced that Mike Leitner will step down as team principal. Francesco Guidotti will take on this role. The Italian has been carrying out this task at Pramac and has already worked with the Austrians for more than 10 years, in 125cc and 250cc.
“First of all, I would like to underline that this is not a complete separation from Mike, because he is still with KTM,” Pit Beirer , head of motorsport, told Motorsport.com. “He is and remains a friend to our house. For seven years Mike has given his all to this project, day and night.”
“We have decided together that we want to follow a different path in the management of our team. We have to take the next step in this project and we have to further separate the sporting management and the development of the bike.”
“Mike and I realized together that something has to radically change for the future, because if not, we will never take that step. That’s when the decision was ripe that we would change something for the future.”
Mike Leitner continues in other functions
The Austrian technician joined the MotoGP project when it was just beginning. At first he was an advisor and over time he took on more and more functions.
“In the last few years, on the one hand there have been tasks on the circuits,” Leitner told Motorsport.com. “Between the races, I’ve also been involved in technical decisions, strategic decisions and many other things. We’ve been talking about this for a long time. In the last seven years I’ve put an incredible amount of energy into building a project like this from scratch.”
Mike Leitner and Miguel Oliveira
“Now the project has reached a point where it has to be strategically configured differently. I agree with that. By repositioning, I mean bringing more faces to the project. I think that’s perfectly fine,” says Leitner. .
After the successes of 2020 , KTM experienced a 2021 season full of ups and downs. When the problems were detected in Qatar, many technical changes were made and an update was introduced at Mugello, with which Miguel Oliveira won at Barcelona.
KTM wants to bring more calm to the racing team
The second half of the season was difficult, aside from Brad Binder’s victory at Spielberg, with flag to flag . Being the first season without concessions, the new evolutions were also tested during the Grand Prix weekends.
“The drivers were restless and didn’t get a chance to deal with normal race duties,” says Beirer. “After the first practices, the question was about the new parts. We certainly gave the team too many worries.”
Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
With this restructuring, KTM wants to bring more peace of mind. Sterlacchini will coordinate the technical part in Austria, the test team around Dani Pedrosa will test the new developments and the racing team will have to concentrate on the performance of the whole.
“We have a very good testing team,” says Beirer. “With Dani Pedrosa we have a fantastic test driver. We have achieved many good things along this route, but at some point we have not drawn the right line and we have brought too many things to the race team.”
“We have to put different time scales on the development steps – maybe try a little longer and be more confident when a part goes into the racing team. There should be fewer parts coming into the racing team, there has to be more peace of mind.” “.ç
Guidotti will be the right team manager for KTM, says Leitner
That peace of mind will be provided by Guidotti, who unlike Leitner is not a technician. “I think he’s a good man to take on this role on the circuits,” the former driver says of his successor. “I think he will fill this role perfectly.”
“He’s not someone who can make technical decisions. But no one demands that of him. He takes on a functional team and doesn’t have to build anything. I’ve put a lot of effort into making sure we have the right people.”
Francesco Guidotti
Leitner noted that he was involved in hiring Guidotti. That’s why Beirer says: “Mike has also agreed to the change. No bad vibes, just pride in what has been achieved. We are very grateful to Mike, for sure.”
“Of course, he also feels melancholy, because now he is giving up his ‘baby’. On the other hand, he has achieved something tremendous. Now is the time to change things. Fresh blood, young engineers. They have to get on with us.”
Behind the scenes, Sterlacchini will be an important figure for technical coordination. “We have very good individual sections, but he is now the man who coordinates everything,” says Leitner. “That’s what we were missing. In the first two years, Sebastian Risse and I were doing it.”
“Then when we were on the track, there was a vacuum [in the factory]. It was very intense because after the races we had to do work in the workshop. Everyone enjoyed doing that, but now it has reached a point where we have to prepare better for the future.”
“That’s why I agree with the decisions that are being made. I will think about what role I will take in the future. It also depends on where KTM wants to see me. I see the future positively and look forward to the next season.”
