Pol Espargaro recalls the first official MotoGP test of the KTM RC16 in November 2016 and the detail that amazed him even then.
KTM’s MotoGP history now spans nine full seasons plus one race.
The Austrian manufacturer made its debut in the premier class of the Motorcycle World Championship in November 2016 at the season finale in Valencia. Test rider Mika Kallio was the first to pilot the first version of the KTM RC16 in a race as a wildcard entry. The result was a retirement due to an electrical problem.
Two days after the Valencia race, Pol Espargaro sat in the saddle of the RC16 for the first time. The Spaniard was one of two regular riders for the Austrian MotoGP newcomer in its debut season in 2017. His teammate was Briton Bradley Smith. Kallio remained with the KTM program for years as a test and reserve rider.
As for Espargaro, he remembers the 2016 Valencia test very clearly: “I remember how the bike was a disaster during the first test in Valencia. Everything vibrated. The engine wasn’t right yet. But my start was immediately a tenth of a second faster than with the Yamaha.”
Before the younger of the two Espargaro brothers joined KTM in the winter of 2016/17, he had completed three MotoGP seasons with the then Yamaha satellite team Tech3. The power of the KTM RC16 at the start really blew him away at the time.
“As I said, it was the first start. I said to the guys in the pit: ‘Okay, the bike is rubbish, but the start is outstanding. Just replace everything except the clutch.’ And as the bike developed, the engines and everything else were changed. But the starts remained outstanding.”
“It was like that from day one. I think it’s crazy,” Espargaro marvels, concluding that the RC16’s good starts are “part of KTM’s DNA.” “They are one of the greatest strengths of this bike and one that has never been changed. But that’s not just because of the clutch.”
Espargaro doesn’t want to reveal the other, or the real, secret behind KTM’s strong starts over the years. He knows it, though. After all, he was a regular rider in the Mattighofen manufacturer’s factory team for four years (2017 to 2020).
After two years with the Honda factory team, Espargaro returned to the KTM camp for the 2023 season, joining the Tech3 team. And he continues to race for this team. In the 2025 MotoGP season, he raced five times as a replacement for injured regular rider Maverick Vinales.
Espargaro sums up KTM’s strength at the start as follows: “In the second or third year, we really started to gain a lot of positions at the start. It’s just so much fun to get off to a good start with this bike. It always has been.”
