KTM is confident of retaining Tech3 as its MotoGP satellite team beyond 2026 despite the significant changes to the French squad.
For the first time in its history, Herve Poncharal has stepped aside, with Guenther Steiner leading the takeover and now holding the CEO role of the team.
Despite his extensive experience with the Haas team in Formula One, Steiner called himself “a rookie” at the MotoGP launch in Kuala Lumpur. The German also previously indicated Tech3 could favor a switch to Ducati machinery in the future.
Yet KTM’s Motorsport Director Pit Beirer was emphatic when asked if he wanted to keep Tech3 as part of its MotoGP project. “Absolutely,” he said. “That’s priority number one. At the moment there’s a situation where not one manufacturer has a contract with Dorna for the future contract period. That’s why no one is doing a deal with satellite teams.
“But I spoke to Guenther Steiner [recently], he was in Austria. He wants to stay with us. We want them to stay with us. We work on that. It’s a free market, of course. When contracts are up, it’s normal that everybody is talking to everybody.
“Tech3 is our partner going into the future. I got the same feeling from Guenther, and that’s what we’re working on in the next few weeks. And yes, we want to have a satellite team, 100 percent.”CN
Click here for all the latest MotoGP news.
