“Relaxing to know bike is capable of winning” – Oliveira

New Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider and Brad Binder talk up 2021 hopes.

New Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Miguel Oliveira believes that the team has a bike capable of winning consistently in 2021 as both him and teammate Brad Binder gear up for battle in the FIM MotoGP World Championship season opener at the Qatar GP on March 28.

The 26-year-old racer from Almada picked up his first two MotoGP wins last season at the Styrian GP and home Portuguese GP, which convinced team bosses that he was the man to replace Spaniard Pol Espargaró alongside Binder – who also picked up his maiden win at the Czech GP.

With everyone hoping for a longer season than the 14 races that occurred in a COVID-19 hit 2020 schedule, the duo have the tools to take on the likes of reigning champion Joan Mir, his Suzuki teammate Álex Rins, six-time Repsol Honda champion Marc Márquez, Ducati’s Jack Miller and a potent quartet of Yamaha riders in Franco Morbidelli, Maverick Viñales, Fabio Quartararo and seven-time champion Valentino Rossi.

Here is what the riders and team bosses had to say ahead of the 2021 season opener:

Brad Binder

Age: 25

Number: #33

Country: South Africa

“2020 in general was a season where I feel we achieved a lot, a few good results and obviously with the first victory – or KTM’s first victory – being the main thing. But there were also many days when we had the potential to do so much more. For sure now the margin is a little bit smaller to try and improve but I think as the season went on last year, even though we had a little bit of a slump in the middle, things got better and better. I felt like I was improving not only for the results but in the way approaching the weekends and going session-by-session. At the moment I feel that we have a really, really strong package. We are in a good direction and I am super-excited to get back on the bike this year.”

Miguel Oliveira

Age: 26

Number: #88

Country: Portugal

“For sure to be world champion you need to have many details together at the same time and for that, depending on how the season is going and what is happening, generally we can find success through the project. Sometimes a 4th place will be a very good result and sometimes a 2nd place may not fulfil our expectations but you have to work through that process and right now, as a start base, I am thinking quite hard to set a bar of results that we can consider as successful. For sure being better than 2020 is already a good start. It is quite a relaxing factor to know that the bike is capable of winning but at the same time you cannot take anything for granted and when it comes to repeating success it becomes harder, so I don’t see it as a static job. I think every year you need to bring something ‘up’ on your side to keep a very good level in this championship. I feel I am able to work more on details in a factory team and to at least be more consistent. I think these are the tools that the factory team is going to give me. I have full conviction in my work.”

Race Manager Mike Leitner

“Increased pressure for sure brings more motivation to the race team because all the KTM people working in this racing business are ‘built’ for pressure. This is the DNA of our sport – or for sport in general – and we’ll take this as a positive thing. For 2021 we are on the timescale. We had ideas and we had to find a good balance between what we can achieve now and between five days of testing in Doha before the season starts because we have to homologate the engine spec and the aerodynamic package there. We have the things we want for 2021 but of course people in the company are already working on stuff for the 2022 season. The plan we had for the winter tests; these parts or units are ready but what we can finally bring into the 2021 season will be decided after the five days at the Doha test. Both of our riders will get all they need to do their best in 2021.”

KTM Motorsport Director Pit Beirer

“The whole MotoGP journey so far has been a dream but the project started with a dream to become a GP winner in that class, so it is amazing to look back and see where we have come., However I definitely don’t want to commit to us already being title contenders. I think this pressure should still be on other guys in the paddock but we are really, really happy that the dream came true with these GP wins. They are a fact. They are on paper and we are definitely hungry for more. We have great staff and everybody is pushing hard. I think that is the style of KTM and the whole company: to have this new spirit with a new goal means the whole company sticks together and we do it together. It brings extra energy.”

KTM AG Member of the board (CMO) Hubert Trunkenpolz

“MotoGP is the best platform for global motorsports present at the moment and this is why we wanted to prolong the successful co-operation we’ve had so far for the next five years. To win the first MotoGP race in Brno with Brad Binder last summer was one of the most emotional moments of my entire motorsport lifetime and, of course, also for the company. We delivered, and it took away a lot of pressure from us. I don’t know if it happened by accident but from that time our business on a global scale went through the ceiling. I think the fans enjoyed MotoGP in 2020 but what we really missed were them at the tracks. I hope this year we will get back to something like normal. We would like to win another race to really continue with what we have achieved in 2020.”