There are changes aplenty when we scope out 2025 in MotoGP™. Exciting ones too. And that’s certainly the case when you zoom in on the lay of the land at KTM heading into the winter and upcoming campaign.

2024 didn’t reap the rewards of the Austrian factory’s efforts away from the track. When reading it in black and white, zero wins wasn’t an option at the beginning of the season, especially given how strong Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) ended 2023. It goes without saying that's a disappointment and a stat they’ll be craving to change as soon as possible. But taking the glass-half-full approach, KTM – thanks to Binder and rookie star Pedro Acosta – were the best of the rest.

The South African and the Spaniard finished P5 and P6 in the MotoGP World Championship behind the rapid quartet of Ducatis that consisted of World Champion Jorge Martin, runner-up Pecco Bagnaia, third place Marc Marquez and fourth place Enea Bastianini. Maverick Viñales and Aprilia were the next best in the standings, 25 points behind Acosta.

It’s a season that KTM Motorsport Director, Pit Beirer, reflected on at the Solidarity GP of Barcelona.

“I have to be honest, our expectations have been a bit higher, especially for Brad and Jack, but we’ve had our ups and downs,” began Beirer. “We had a really difficult summer, but at least we managed to stabilize the situation and get some decent results.

“Looking back now, we’ve had six podiums on Saturday and six on Sunday. We’re the second-best manufacturer, so that’s great. But of course, we thought we’d be closer to the Ducati guys, who have done another fantastic job this year. We have to congratulate them for what they’re doing out there, but we still keep fighting, charging, and learning.

“We feel we’re getting closer again and have received some really good feedback from Brad and Pedro lately. We now need to secure fifth and sixth positions and second place as a manufacturer – that’s the target for the final round.

“But I still want to look at the glass as half full, not half empty, and I feel we’re in a good position from a sporting perspective looking towards next season, with the new riders on board. We’ve learned a lot more about our bike in the past few weeks, and that’s important.”

Those new riders are Viñales and Bastianini, who will form a mighty-looking Red Bull KTM Tech3 outfit as Acosta joins Binder in the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing set-up. And it’s in that garage where more change has arrived with Aki Ajo replacing Francesco Guidotti as Team Manager.

"Yeah, I don’t want to sound terrible by saying this, but I’m really happy that Francesco will leave KTM as a friend. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the success we wanted for many small reasons,” explained Beirer.

“We also made the decision for Aki because he’s a man who works really closely with the riders, and I think he can give them great advice on what to do on the track. There’s the fundamental work that needs to be done at home in the factory to produce a great machine because you can’t close the gap between bikes over the weekend just with the riders.

“Don’t get me wrong, we don’t think Aki is coming in and solving all our problems, but if we share the missing pieces – let’s say, we’ll build a better machine at home, and the riders will bring everything to the table at the right time – it’s not just about the riders. It’s also about team planning: when to go out for qualifying, when to put in the lap time, and all those organizational aspects.

“We believe that Aki is maybe one of the strongest in this area, and he’s always had the ability to develop champions for us. Both of these guys know him very well and are looking forward to working with him. He made them champions before, so we trust Aki to give us that extra bit in the fight for the last 10ths of a second we need. But again, I’d like to say thank you to Francesco for giving everything until the last day. As I said, I’m really happy he’ll leave us as a friend, and who knows what the future will bring for us.”

But that’s not all. Beirer goes on to discuss the latest with the position of Technical Director after Fabiano Sterlacchini made the switch to Aprilia.

"Yeah, with Fabiano, he was the kind of guy who was at home on the racetrack, trying to do everything. Now, we’ve clearly made a split. Sebastian (Risse) is 100% responsible for our technical decisions on the racetrack, together with Aki,” confirmed Beirer.

“At home, we have a very strong team on the engine side and the chassis side. They’ll take on other responsibilities, but also our leader of the test team program with Dani Pedrosa. You can almost see this as a team or board, where all these names I just mentioned will make decisions after every race. What’s the next step for next week?

“There won’t be a one-man show; it’ll be a team effort to make that next step. I strongly believe that no one person can decide everything for a MotoGP project. You need many segments covered, so you need a strong team. That’s what we’re working on. We’re not looking for a technical director.

“We believe we have the right people on board to make the next step. We know a step is needed, so we’re not leaning back, thinking everything will come automatically. There’s a strong effort behind how we’re going to fix that last step in this class.”

Will that much-needed step arrive for the 2025 campaign? Time will tell. KTM have swapped some jigsaw pieces around and found a puzzle they like the look of more than previously. They’ve got the riders, now it’s about finding the sweet spot with the RC16 to allow them to challenge for podiums, wins and maybe a World Championship title in the near future.