KTM is innovating in MotoGP and this year has been betting on a carbon fiber chassis, with positive results so far, although everything is involved in a lot of research and analysis, especially after each crash suffered by its riders. Nicolas Goyon admits that constant analyzes are being carried out and there is extra work on the part of everyone involved.
In an interview with Paddock-GP, the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 Team Manager talked about how the work has been developed by the Austrian structure on this still relatively “fresh” concept: ‘It is true that it is still very recent and, at Pierer Mobility, no one has the necessary experience to be completely confident about this new material. So, what happens is that we have very strict chassis verification protocols. Basically, as soon as there is a noticeable problem, a crash or something like that, we are instructed to have the frame checked.’
This analysis and additional work is demanding but everything indicates that it is something natural at this stage of development and that eventually it should calm down: ‘Therefore, it is evident that, for the technicians, it is much more restrictive than before, because we have to disassemble much more often and possibly change the chassis much more than before. So, the idea is to gain experience. And then, little by little, I imagine that, if we do not have major problems, we will also relax in relation to these controls.’
Goyon even made a parallel with a recent experience: ‘If we look closely, we went through a similar process when we had the first carbon arms, and now it’s the same thing. It was something new at the beginning, we were very, very restrictive in terms of mileage, controls, etc., and then we gained experience and realized that, in some cases, we could relax a bit. So, of course, if there is a major accident, we will always dismantle it and send it to be checked. Here, they do x-rays and a whole series of analyses to check it, and if everything is fine, they send it back to us’.
And it is at the headquarters in Mattighofen that a large part of the work is done, he explained: ‘Yes, in most cases, yes. They are sent to Austria because they require X-rays and equipment that we don’t necessarily have at the circuits’.
