There was another big shock in 2008 as KTM announced yet more cuts, this time confirming that its 250cc team would fold at the end of the season despite a competitive final season in which Kallio won three races.īut KTM’s 2008 125cc season got off to an interesting start with the signing by Guidotti of a hot young Spanish talent by the name of Marc Marquez.

Gone were the junior team of the year prior and the German-based wildcard squad that Krummenacher rode for in 2006, replaced with a wholly new project that took some of the pressure off Guidotti’s plate: the Red Bull KTM Rookies’ Cup, still the prime way of spotting young talent for rapid promotion. However, 2007 also brought a considerable reduction in the scope of KTM’s 125cc project.

Leading the way in the middleweight class in Guidotti’s first year were Manuel Poggiali and Hiroshi Aoyama, while Michael Ranseder, Stefan Bradl, Julian Simon and Kallio made up KTM’s 125cc team.ĭec 03 : Debating the top 10 MotoGP riders of 2021 KTM enjoyed a better second season in 2004 with the signing of a young Australian called Casey Stoner, who took it to fifth in the championship.Įxpanding to the 250cc class for 2005, with Anthony West fighting for the win in KTM’s first ever race at Donington Park, meant that by the time Guidotti came onboard for the 2006 season, the team had quite the line-up of riders across the two classes. The Frenchman never quite clicked with the bike and was replaced after nine races by Finn Mika Kallio, starting a relationship that continues to this day in Kallio’s role as one of KTM’s MotoGP test riders.

He helped to lead its 125cc and 250cc two-stroke efforts with some rather significant names onboard the orange bikes.įirst joining Grand Prix racing in 2003, KTM started out in the smallest class, building a 125cc machine and showing its intent by signing 2002 world champion Arnaud Vincent.

Guidotti spent four years with KTM in the past, joining the squad all the way back in 2006 as team coordinator when it only competed in the smaller classes. It might have come as something of a surprise when the news leaked out that Pramac Ducati boss Francesco Guidotti would replace long-time team leader Mike Leitner at the factory KTM MotoGP project for 2022.īut actually Guidotti’s past history with KTM makes it more a case of back to the future.

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