KTM 2024 MotoGP team revealed

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing presented their 2024 livery and riders in mid-February, with Brad Binder and Jack Miller re-uniting for a second year together with the factory team. The team and the factory are aiming to improve on last year’s results that saw the Austrian squad finish second in the Constructors' Championship and fourth in the Teams' Championship, while Binder and Miller finished fourth and eleventh respectively in the Riders’ Championship.

Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager, described 2023 as a good year, with some satisfaction over how the riders and the bike improved, but more is expected this year.

“The approach for 2024 is easy: we have to move ahead with the growth we started last season,” Guidotti said. “There will be areas where we still have plenty of room to increase our performance, but in general, the project is very balanced, so we just need to push when we know it is time to do it.”

Pit Beirer, KTM Motorsports Director, added: “I feel that the package is very complete now and we have all the right people in the right positions and also the rider line-up makes me very happy.

“We reached a lot last season, but our big target is pushing for the world championship and I feel in 2024 we are ready to do so.”

For the riders, this season will be Binder’s fifth in the premier class and Miller’s tenth. And while Binder has the security of a KTM contract to the end of 2026, Miller is like the majority of this year’s 22-rider grid, with no ride locked in beyond the end of the season. As such, the 29-year-old Aussie is under pressure to perform, especially given the fact this year’s MotoGP rookie, Pedro Acosta, will be gunning for his seat on the factory team.

In 2023, his first year with KTM, Miller achieved one GP podium (Round 4 at Jerez) and one Sprint podium (Round 7 at the Sachsenring), but no wins, although he did crash out of a leading position in the season finale at Valencia. While the factory team says Miller wants “a top three championship slot and more” after spending most of 2023 adapting to the RC16, the Aussie had his own words for what he expects out of 2024.

“2023 was a year of learning and of growth for me as a person and as a rider,” Miller said. “Towards the back half of the season, we really got comfortable with the bike and were able to start challenging for positions where we needed to be.

“In KTM, and my dealings especially in the racing department, when they find something or find a pathway - new ideas, better ideas and strategies - then they go all-in to have them on the track as soon as possible. Having that power, that motivation and that backing from the company is awesome as a rider.

“I didn’t get to achieve all the wishes I wanted in 2023. I have a whole new list of wishes for 2024.”

Binder’s highlights in the 2023 season included sprint wins at Termas de Rio Hondo and Jerez, sprint podiums at Le Mans, Spielberg, Motegi, Buriram and Valencia, and GP podiums at Jerez, Silverstone, Spielberg, Buriram and Valencia. Last year was Binder’s best-ever finish in the championship, and according to the 28-year-old South African, he’s on track to continue that upward progression in 2024.

“The trajectory is on its way up. 11th, 6th, 6th and 4th, so, yeah, I have no doubt we are going to do better than 4th,” Binder said. “Last season was great at times and difficult at other moments. I felt like we had more in the pocket. We were much more competitive each weekend and always around the podium battle.

“This season is where we can make the difference. It’s awesome to be starting 2024 for real. It’s going to be my tenth season racing for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and it’s been an amazing journey. We have always stuck together and always had the same goal in mind.”