Red Bull KTM completed 2021 with one victory apiece for its factory riders and a departing manager after a challenging season in MotoGP.

While Brad Binder’s breathtaking slick tyre gamble at the Austrian manufacturer’s home track paid off, it was the sole podium for the South African in his second year in the premier class. Teammate Miguel Oliveira faired better, with his Barcelona victory sandwiched between second positions at Mugello and Sachsenring but a tricky fall during Styria’s FP1 proved his undoing for the second half of the year.

With the lineup remaining unchanged for 2022, albeit with a new face at the helm as Mike Leitner steps aside as Team Manager in favour of Francesco Guidotti, the departing boss was well aware of the challenges KTM still face.

“We have quite mixed feelings because we had a very good period this season with the results and some where we've been not so strong,” Leitner admitted. “It is the first season we lost the concessions which forced us of course to change our working style, our process of parts testing, planning a GP weekend to somehow allow development on the bike, and this brings you some time in trouble, to be fair. We expected that, is clear but overall I think we managed quite well.

“We had two victories, we had some podiums, so we had some highlights this year, and both riders had good races, but on the other hand again also bad results. Brad is seventh at the moment in the championship [he finished sixth overall after jumping Marc Marquez in the standings due to the Repsol rider’s withdrawal from the final two races due to injury] so it shows that other manufacturers and riders are in a very similar situation, that it's very difficult to keep the level or the performance through the 18 races, some do it better, some less. Overall, I will rate the season for us as an eight, with all the circumstances we had. We have to learn from that season and to do a better plan or better preparation for the next year.

“Our category is very related to how you get the tyres working, and sometimes you come to places where from FP1 your package more or less is working very well,” he continued. “And you come other times to places where your package is struggling and it's very difficult to fix it during the sessions. On this point we have to improve, it's clear, to understand better what we have to do to get the performance out of our package, because we see on the days when we are able to get 100% out of our bike we can fight for podiums and victories. This is a very clear indication we have to work very hard and understand how we get it.

"Brad actually is now in his first full season,” Leitner explained, focusing his attention on his two riders. “He was last year a rookie in the Covid season - we didn't go to many places. Now we really go to many circuits, he had some places where he was first time on track so he's performing well. He is not best, I would say, for qualifying, but we count very strong on him for racing. On that point for sure he has to do a step, or we all together have to do a step with him. He showed that he has a really strong heart on the bike, he showed in Spielberg with the decision which ended up in a victory then. He's a very talented rider but still also a margin to get better as a GP rider. He's young and I would say next year is his first experienced season and we will see what step he will do but he is always pushing and trying the maximum. Is a hard worker and we are really happy with him.

“On Miguel's side also, you see already more routine and when he is on point, where the things are working for him, he can do unbelievable races. He had a period where he was second, in Mugello, a win in Barcelona, he went to Sachsenring second, Assen fourth, so we know the potential. After, he had a small issue, he struggled quite a lot with his right wrist after the crash in Spielberg so this bring him a little out of the line. He had a very good race in Misano, again crash the lap before the end when was on podium. This was painful, not all things went together for him, in some stage also unlucky with crashes maybe not always caused by himself. He has just to focus to bring the things together, and I think he can have a very good season next year."