WP and KTM team up in Moto2
Rennie Scaysbrook | February 1, 2016
No word yet on if the Moto2 WP-KTM will be racing this year but its appearance alone is good news for the category.
Suspension manufacturer WP is teaming up with partner company KTM to produce a brand new Moto2 machine. WP’s star has been steadily rising in the Grand Prix paddock, with Frenchman Johan Zarco taking the 2015 Moto2 world title on the Ajo Motorsport Kalex using the firm’s suspension. Now WP and KTM have made the decision to enter into a partnership to construct and develop a new machine, one that KTM hopes will bridge the gap in performance from its Moto3 machine to the MotoGP missile – one in which WP has already manufactured many parts, including the chassis – that will make its debut in the 2017 MotoGP season.
KTM famously declined to enter the Moto2 championship when it first debuted back in 2010 after the demise of the 250cc two-stroke category, saying they did not want to participate in a series in which they would be forced to use a competitor’s (Honda CBR600RR) control engine. It now appears they’ve had a change of heart.
“The Moto2 project has a great significance for us,” says Cross Industries CEO, Stefan Pierer. “Through our growth and long-term investments we are in a position to close this final gap in our activities in the sport of Grand Prix road racing. A young rider can gather his first experience in the Rookies Cup and then advance to our own in-house Moto3 team, then further, via the new Moto2 project into the MotoGP class. These are concepts that have repeatedly proved to be successful for KTM and WP in professional racing, and in the future we want to have riders for our MotoGP project that have advanced right through the entire KTM Academy.”
