MotoGP, Beirer: "Marc Marquez is not a realistic option for KTM"

One thing is certain, one rider out of Martin, Marquez and Bastianini will have to look for a place outside Ducati if they want to be in an official team. At the moment, besides Aprilia, the most attractive option for those who will be excluded from Borgo Panigale's plans is KTM. The Austrian manufacturer already has two riders under contract for next year, Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta (with whom it is talking about an extension until 2026), while the seats of Jack Miller and - above all - Augusto Fernandez are wobbling.

Pit Beirer, KTM's motorsport director, talked about this in an interview with motosport-magazin.com: "With Brad and Pedro we have two fantastic riders, in whom we have a lot of confidence for the future. My desire has not changed, I want to continue with our four riders, but the current performances of Jack and Augusto are a bit lacking at the moment for a MotoGP seat. We still have time, but not much time, and they need to take steps forward."

The argument adds up, but would it still be at a time when riders like Martin and Marquez would be on the market? Incidentally, Marc made his World Championship debut with KTM of all places, while Jorge raced in orange in Moto2.

"We have enormous respect for Marquez, but I don't think he is a realistic option for KTM," said Beirer, " I talked to him last summer, his wishes were to find a bike he knew he could be competitive with. He succeeded and is back on top, which is why I don't see him changing again and starting from the beginning. "

With Martin and KTM, on the other hand, there was a rift when the Spaniard paid to get out of his option to switch to MotoGP (even paying a penalty) preferring Ducati.

"It's been a while. When someone leaves like that we take it personally because we put our heart and soul into it," Pit stressed, " I don't want to speculate on Marc or Jorge, they are both very strong riders, they have a Ducati and few reasons to change bikes. I don't think it's important to say what you think about them, I really appreciate them both."