RiderTua.com – Pit Beirer (motorsport director at Pierer Mobility AG with the KTM, GASGAS and Husqvarna brands) commented on the increasingly wild aerodynamic excesses in the development of MotoGP. “It’s wild when we see what all the riders have achieved in the tests,” said Beirer with a smile, referring to the latest aerodynamic developments in MotoGP. Rounded ‘ground effect’ side panels have long been standard, and we’ve even gotten used to the extra ‘stegosaurus spikes’ on Hondas.
Aprilia went a step further and seemed to take ideas from the ‘Batmobile’ when designing the rear end. KTM itself wowed its rivals with new wings on the fenders, which some described as ‘letterbox attachments’.
Pit Beirer: Limit Aerodynamics Before 2027
Pit Beirer said, “I feel like we are at a point where Formula 1 was a few years ago. Every little detail on a motorbike is thought about how we can exploit it from an aerodynamic point of view. It’s very clear that you no longer need aerodynamics just to have a fast motorbike on the road straight. Aerodynamics now plays a role in performance in every area of acceleration, high speed, braking, cornering. Maybe that’s also the reason why the progress in time records over the last 2 years has been greater than before. That’s a big factor now.”
KTM Group benefits from collaboration with Red Bull Advanced Technologies, the ideas and technology department of the Formula 1 team of Red Bull Racing. “We are very happy and grateful that Red Bull opened its doors to us, so that we had access to a team of experts overnight. If we had to build this department ourselves piecemeal, it would certainly take quite a long time and it certainly would not be easy to find experts the right one,” explained the German boss.
KTM gets access to the team in Milton Keynes. “We can keep up with everyone else with our aero package and also bring some new things to the track. That’s interesting, but I think from a promoter, FIM and regulatory point of view, we now have to be careful not to go too far. I think we need “immediate restrictions. Maybe we don’t need to wait until 2027 to limit these things,” said the head of motorsport at Pierer Mobility AG.
Behind the scenes, the MSMA manufacturers’ association has long been negotiating the technical regulations that will apply for the next 5 years starting in 2027. Regarding MotoGP’s vision for the future, Beirer said, “I can’t speak for my colleagues, but I feel we all agree that we have to limit aerodynamics. But that will only happen in terms of size. We will not eliminate winglets and so on.”
“Modern motorbikes will look like this and will continue in this direction. But the space we can play with will be limited. That’s a good direction because the more limited it is, the more it puts the equipment back in the hands of the rider so that the rider, not the wind machine, controls the force racing.”
“Limit the size of the aerodynamic components, eliminate the ride height device which is a clear demand from our side and reduce engine power,” stressed Beirer, mentioning key points for future technical regulations.
It is true that initially KTM did not want to plan to reduce the capacity to 850 cc. However, after discussing with friends, KTM also supports reducing the engine volume to make it safe enough, because the motorbike is too fast. “We have to limit the speed, aerodynamics and ride height device to at least take a step back,” concluded Pit Beirer.
