Last season had just ended when a tornado hit MotoGP. Up until a few weeks earlier, KTM was battling with Ducati and Aprilia to get on the podium - and one of its riders, Brad Binder, even finish in the top five overall - while it was in precarious financial condition, to say the least, with a debt of several million Euros.
After facing the Christmas vacation with anxiety about the future in terms of business and competitions, the Austrian manufacturer forged ahead and, almost as if nothing had happened, took part in both of the winter test sessions of the premier class scheduled at the Sepang and Buriram circuits, both with the official team and with the satellite Tech3 team that's wearing the same Red Bull colors this year.
Speaking of the support team, its owner, Hervé Poncharal, confided to the Crashnet website about these last few complex months.
"There's never been a plan B for us, because I've always had confidence in KTM. Stefan Pierer and Pit Beirer were clear with me, and I had no reason to question what they said," he explained.
"In any case, in mid-December, it would've been impossible to contact a manufacturer and have bikes prepared in time."
"At the time, we already had a contract in place with Vinales and Bastianini until 2026, in addition to the commitment to race with the brand,"he continued.
"What could've worried us was the information circulating in the media, but we received reassurances from management that everything would go as planned.
Many subsequently asked me if we had an alternative. In response, instead of wasting energy in finding solutions that weren't realistic, we simply rolled up our sleeves."
Even with their problems, the transalpine manager tried to find something positive. "It's exactly at those junctures that you get to know people best.
Their reaction says a lot and, in Mattighofen, they were always transparent. They told us what the issues actually were and the ideas they had for trying to recover.
We listened, discreetly and without comment, although we didn't back down when help was needed.
Personally, I'm proud of that, and I think KTM itself realized that what binds us is a partnership that goes beyond a contract, but is human.
It's all thanks to the journey that we started together in 2019, which has had some dark phases, but also the Olivera's victories and the nine podiums with rookie, Acosta, in 2024," he finally stressed.
