MotoGp, KTM crisis: withdrawal from the world championship could happen in 2026

Rome, December 30, 2024 – Good news for employees, less so for fans. Ktm will stay in MotoGP in 2025 but the insolvency plan, due to the financial crisis of the parent company, provides for the exit from the world championship in 2026. The good news for the employees, however, is the payment of the back wages, the first step to meet the Alpine creditors, united under a single acronym. In Austria these are decisive weeks to get out PiererMobility from the severe crisis that has led to the accumulation of almost 3 billion in debt, with a restructuring and financing plan that initially provides for 250 million euros to be paid off in two years. The two companies controlled and subject to the plan will see their crucial day on February 25, when the restructuring will be voted on at the Ried court.

MotoGP exit in 2026

The restructuring plan was presented on December 27 and the weeks leading up to the hearing on February 25 will be decisive. The Christmas news is that employees will receive their December salaries and will be able to breathe a sigh of relief, while those for November will be paid in January thanks to the salary fund. Now, the crux is the motorsport sector. The bankruptcy trustee presented an initial report on December 20 and the creditors' request was to exit MotoGP in 2025, but Ktm reiterated his intention to continue, at least for one season, with Pedro Acosta top rider worried. The unknown is on the developments, because without adequate investments the bike cannot be improved to keep up with Ducati and Aprilia, but in general the riders will start to look around in view of 2026. The AKV, the Alpine creditors' association, explicitly asks for the exit from the Moto GP program, an hypothesis not accepted by KTM which will race in 2025, but according to a report by DerStandard, the Austrians would have commissioned an analysis of the situation from a Boston company and the report would then have ended up on the bankruptcy trustee's desk, as reported by motorsport.com. A reduction in expenses for motorsport is expected, which rose to almost 100 million euros in 2023, and according to DerStandard Ktm would have planned to exit Moto 3, Moto 2 and MotoGp from 2026 to reduce management costs. It is no coincidence, therefore, that KTM has only mentioned 2025 in its press releases regarding its permanence in MotoGp and everything would suggest a withdrawal from the following year. It remains to be seen whether Dorna will find a new incoming brand, there has been talk again of Suzuki, or if it will continue with a reduced number of bikes. In any case, the Austrian brand's exit from the scene seems certain and we are sure that between Ducati, Aprilia, Honda and Yamaha there will be a race to get hold of Pedro Acosta, winner of the Moto 3 and Moto 2 world titles and a baby phenomenon of world motorcycling.

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