MV Agusta To MotoGP In 2026?
Cycle News Staff | November 7, 2023
The debacle of KTM’s five contracted riders signed for MotoGP 2024 with only four available seats could have been solved with no riders missing out had KTM been granted the two grid slots vacated by Suzuki at the end of 2023.
That would have likely seen Husqvarna come onto grid as another rebadged KTM (following the same path as GasGas), but Dorna’s refusal to grant KTM the grid spots on the basis they must be kept for an entirely new manufacturer to take ensured Pol Espargaro lost his seat in place of the incoming Pedro Acosta.
Those two grid spots will remain open as it’s unlikely no new manufacturer will come to the grid before the rule revamp for the 2027 season, and it has emerged that KTM is considering entering MV Agusta as a new, sole manufacturer to fill the gap.
“If there are now to be new concessions indiscriminately for well-known factories, as a manufacturer, you have to think carefully about whether you want to spend any money at all on a third team for this racing series and in this sport,” KTM’s Motorsport Director Pit Beirer told speedweek.com.
“MotoGP will develop in the direction of Formula 1. As a manufacturer, you will have an engine platform like in Formula 1. The teams will then differentiate themselves with a different chassis; the drive units will remain identical. [Then] we will enter MotoGP with MV Agusta as our own brand.”
The prospect of MV Agusta on the grid is a tantalizing one, even if they sell only 6000 bikes a year as a luxury brand.
“You have to start at some point,” Beirer says. “MV Agusta has already won many world championship titles, regardless of the fact that they are now active in the luxury sector. I do not rule out a MotoGP involvement with MV Agusta after 2026.”CN
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