http://www.ktm.com/factoryracing/superb ... rc8-r.html

Eatin up those "RED" things

2 questions spring to mind.

Why is the IDM championship the only place that bike wins?
Why don't KTM support a credible entry in a championship with more than a dozen viewers?

once again makes the MCN guys look like a buch of arsewipes

Come on KTM it's time to back a challenge to a serious championship.

I guess they are saving for their Moto 3 entry next year. Best exposure for them and they have a track record using their 125 chassis.

Let's face it,, what KTM "SHOULD DO" is get a couple of bike into WSBK , if not to win,,,, then just to develop the RC8 into a winner , sure would spice up the field a bit,,,,,,

They also won the Australian Superbike championship with the RC8R and maybe the Aussie Open Twins or something, can't remember that 2nd one exactly.

It's not been all bad for BMW - winning every round of the superstock class was a good advert - even though they cheated a little bit - that rider was a bit good for the class.

At least in WSB they have been on the rostrum, and led races for multiple laps. Leon will get the bike up there if it can be pushed that far.

I am one that thinks that a no show from a manufacturer whose company slow gun is ready to race is all talk and they need to put up or shut up. You do not skirt around the edges and build a bike that screams to be put into a Superbike class and Throw all that Akropovic-RedBull stickerage on and expect some wingding is going to shit his britches if he cant get his hands on such motorcyclidge. Enter the flookin race with a MotofugginGP rider, has been, and let the chips fall where they may. KTM has come to many playgrounds and shown the bigboys that Austrian engineering is second to none. Kalio will be free next year, Shoemocker knows how to scoot across pavement, for fuuuuuch's sake they could get Tead for the price of a cuppla blondes. There is no such thing as bad publishshitty, I believe in the sayen race on Sunday, sell on Monday is still nearer to Win on Sunday, sell on Monday than We made it Orange with lots of stickers, our doors open at Nine AM.
KTM, You are not playing the game correctly. Never mind the fact you fooked up the Bore man affair, now use spect us to buy your RACE BIKE?

Yes, that's right Shannon Johnson was their team rider.

There isn't much reason to dedicate a factory KTM team in WSB considering Ducati has pulled out but is still winning with Althea racing. KTM needs a team like Althea to pick up their bike instead of the Ducati. I personally think the bike would perform well in WSB considering how dominant they are in BMW territory. I'm surprised we don't see more KTM's racing in superbike leagues, but that might change next year now that everyone can see how well the bike stands up against BMW and Ducati in IDM. I like to think that IDM and other smaller leagues show off the bikes engineering superiority more so than WSB considering the racer talent is more evenly matched.

I'd like to see KTM in the MotoGP next year with a 1000cc. There is nothing to lose in MotoGP since it's a prototype only race. You can't say X brand is faster than Y brand because you'll never see that bike on the market. Whereas now the reviewers say BMW has the fastest production bike, yet the race results around the world show a completely different story. On the other hand KTM can use the data collected to develop better production bikes, and if they fail oh well its just a prototype, live and learn. Next year is the big reset button where everyone starts out at square one with 1000cc engines. It would crack me up to see a "prototype" 990 LC8 bored down to 81mm in motogp perform well. Not sure if GP would even allow an LC8 design or if they have to be completely different. Team Roberts did run the LC8 for a year in 2005, but KTM had to back out of their sponsorship probably because of lack of money and the 800cc rules scared them away. It is interesting how the new MotoGP rules for 1000cc engine fits the bore of the BMW R1000SS. It's as if they made the new rules to entice BMW to enter.

In what way would you describe the engine Roberts team used as a LC8?

Althea are in a very favourable position. If you watch WSB a lot you may recognise some of the crew, they were in the Garage with Ducati Corsa last year. I've also noticed some Ducati Factory people in there.

I have no idea of the exact spec of the bikes, or how the funding is split but I suspect it's as close to a factory team as you can get. Nice to Mr Checa doing so well actually, he's a very nice bloke.

I'd be amazed to see KTM enter the main event of MotoGP. It's waaaaay too rich for their blood. Kawasaki pulled out as it cost too much. Those bikes are quite literally worth a fooking fortune. I read somewhere that the top bikes can be up to $3 million each!! That almost makes a WSB look like a Honda C90 in price comparison. As much as I would love to see it happen, KTM just don't have the dosh to play in the prototype play ground. Maybe with Moto 3 we might see them back in it the race?

Have a look here at what 2012 could give us:

http://www.motomatters.com/news/2010/02 ... _fuel.html

The claiming rule class could spice things up a bit. 3L extra fuel and twice as many engines before a penalty.

Expect to see highly tuned motors based on production machinery in prototype running gear.

Come to think of it, that's precisely what the WCM team tried to enter a few years ago and they were hounded out of the class by Dorna. Now with grids paper thin Dorna are desperate for that type of entry.

The front of the field will still be the true factory prototypes IMO, but at least there could be more interesting duals going on through a bigger field. I hope the TV directors let us see them.

One thing I am dissapointed in: No weight limit bonus for machines with less than 4 cylinders. This makes it VERY hard for a twin to be competitive.