KTM withdraw from 125s
Added on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
KTM withdraw from 125s
Austrian manufacturer KTM has decided to pull out of the MotoGP 125 championship, the company has announced.
KTM, who run two bikes in the 125cc championship with Marc Marquez and Cameron Beaubier, have decided to withdraw from the championship in order to focus their development on other road-racing operations, namely the RC8 Superbike and the KTM Red Bull Rookies Cup.
KTM, which joined 125GP in 2003 and 250GP in 2005, has taken a total of 22 victories, 46 podiums and 19 pole positions in the two-stroke championships.
The factory won the 125cc Manufacturers’ title in 2005, but never won a Riders’ title – finishing runner-up with Mika Kallio in the 125cc class in both 2005 and 2006. KTM’s highest placed 250cc rider was also Kallio, who finished third overall in 2008.
“The current situation in motorcycle racing and in the entire industry has resulted in us adapting our motor sport strategy on asphalt,” said a statement from the company. “KTM has made a conscious decision concerning the topic of youth development. We will continue to maintain this by providing maximum support and training for young talent, also in difficult times. At the same time we must be responsible for fielding salable [sic] KTM street bikes in competition. Strengthening the racing activity around our street Superbike, the RC8 R is a logical step.
“Despite this clear commitment to racing on asphalt, Europe’s second biggest motorcycle manufacturer at the same time announces that it is withdrawing from the 125 ccm Grand Prix World Championship.”
KTM, who will continue to support the Red Bull KTM factory team until the end of the current season, cited the loss of a major backer as the factor behind the scaling down of the 2009 Red Bull Rookies Cup earlier this year, which saw the AMA series scrapped whilst the MotoGP series was cut to just eight races over six rounds.
