Red Bull KTM chief Mike Leitner is optimistic about his team’s chances at this weekend’s Qatar MotoGP opener even though it has been a difficult track in the past.
Leitner has Johann Zarco and Pol Espargaro in his garage on the RC16 V4 machinery but says he has to be realistic about their chances in only the third year in the big class.
“The target is to reach the top positions as much as possible but we have to be realistic and this is just the third year for us. We are still fighting against manufacturers with many more years in this business,” said Leitner.
“We are pushing to improve our package on many different aspects and this will of course take some time but racing is racing and we will always look for good results.
“Doha has been a difficult track for us. We started our project here two years ago and that’s why we are really happy to see the test lap-times closer than they have ever been to the fastest.
“I think for the race we can be optimistic and find the good set-up in the four sessions. The challenge there is that the track conditions can change day-to-day. We just have to be open and adapt to what we find.”
Espargaro boasts a best result of seventh at the Qatari circuit in five years of MotoGP competition while Zarco has an eighth but 2019 will be just his third term in the premier class.
