KTM unveils RC16 MotoGP bikes for 2024

Brad Binder and Jack Miller helped officially launch the Austrian manufacturer’s updated RC16 which debuted in Malaysia last week during the three-day pre-season test.

On the final day of running, South African Binder took seventh and Australian team-mate Miller was 14th, while GasGas Tech3 rookie Pedro Acosta caught attention throughout the test as he finished ninth overall on his RC16.

The factory KTM RC16, with continued title sponsorship from Red Bull, retains its familiar orange and dark blue livery for 2024 which will be run by the unchanged rider line-up of Binder and Miller.

Binder, who has spent his entire MotoGP premier class career at KTM, enjoyed his most successful season last year as he finished fourth in the championship highlighted by two sprint race wins and five grand prix podiums across 2023.

Miller, who joined from the factory Ducati squad last year, ended the season 11th in the overall riders’ world championship with one grand prix podium which came at the Spanish GP.

Their efforts delivered KTM second place in the MotoGP world constructors’ championship, its best finish since joining the premier class full-time in 2017, and it is a feat the squad aims to build on in 2024.

Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: KTM Images

“Finishing second in the constructors’ championship last year is for sure something we can be proud of, but the important thing is that we could close the gap significantly to the competition, Hubert Trunkenpolz, KTM member of the executive board, said.

“I think, next to the motorcycle, the biggest progress we have made is in the team structure. We added good people to the ones we already had, and the team has come together very well.

“A lot of it is about having the right people in the factory and the right people at the racetrack and the communication between them is super-important and this is where we made a big, big step.

“We are committed to MotoGP as much as we were on day one. We won’t give up until we have grabbed this title because this is something that we want to have, that we want to achieve and that we will achieve in time.”

MotoGP regroups in Qatar next week for the final pre-season event, a two-day test at the Losail International Circuit on 19-20 February.

Bikes of Jack Miller, Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: KTM Images