KTM

Both Red Bull KTM riders Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro see Phillip Island as their best shot ar a strong result to end 2018 given the team’s impressive pace both in last year’s race and in previous tests.

Bradley Smith says the extremely competitive level in MotoGP came out with his last-lap battle against Scott Redding to secure the final point place in 15 th at the first-ever Thailand round as he seeks answers behind pace problems in the first Asia flyaway race.

Results haven’t been going his way but Sam Lowes remains resolute and feels he and his Swiss Innovative Investors Team are capable of scoring a podium finish in the final five Moto2 races of 2018.

The British Superbike title contender opens up on his move to the Moto2 class in 2019 and feels he has “the best package … [to] develop into one of the top riders” in the series.

Bradley Smith is looking to sign-off his KTM MotoGP career by handing the factory a top-eight finish during the remaining five rounds.

Following victory in Sunday's Moto2 Grand Prix, Brad Binder and title contending team-mate Miguel Oliveira returned to Aragon for two days of testing.

Bradley Smith expressed disappointment after he missed out on a place in the second qualifying shootout of the day, and felt some of the riding he witnessed in that session was “dangerous.”

Pol Espargaro has already undergone surgery after re-breaking his left collarbone in a Saturday accident at the Aragon MotoGP.

Qualifying results from the 2018 Aragon Moto2 Grand Prix, round 14 of 19.

To say that Saturday at Aragon was a day to forget for the Espargaro family would be a massive understatement. It began with factory KTM rider Pol re-breaking his healing left collarbone in morning practice, sending him back to hospital for surgery.

Dani Pedrosa remained silent on Thursday about his highly-rumoured switch to KTM as a MotoGP test rider next season, but Pol Espargaro spoke openly about what the 31-time race winner could bring to the Austrian project.

As expected, Mika Kallio has extended his MotoGP testing contract with KTM for 2019. The Finn, currently sidelined by serious right-knee ligament damage at the Sachsenring, will thus remain part of the team for a fourth season.

Bradley Smith may have lost his full-time MotoGP ride, but he will be lining up on the grid at the 2019 Qatar season-opener.

Pol Espargaro is confident he’ll be able to manage the pain during the Misano race but accepts he’ll be hampered by a lack of physical power on his Red Bull KTM on his return from injury.

Bradley Smith has revealed he is edging closer to confirming his role as Aprilia’s MotoGP test rider for 2019 while reiterating a aim of being a full-time presence in the paddock the following year.

During the build-up to the British MotoGP – before it was cancelled – Crash.net caught up with Moto2 world title contender Miguel Oliveira to chat about all things orange at KTM, his early preparations for his move up to MotoGP and what his dentistry studies mean to him.

Aleix Espargaro would welcome the arrival of Bradley Smith as an Aprilia test and wild-card rider in 2019. The struggling Italian factory is among the teams looking to boost its development programme by signing a test rider with proven MotoGP speed and experience.

John McPhee has said the Moto3 title is “100 percent the goal” in 2019 after it was confirmed he would join the Petronas-backed SIC [Sepang International Circuit] Honda squad in the junior category in November.

Bradley Smith will make a clean break from KTM at the end of the MotoGP season and not remain involved as a factory test rider in 2019.

Loris Baz has spoken of his excitement to sample KTM’s RC16 MotoGP machine, after the Frenchman was asked to stand in for the recovering Pol Espargaro at the British Grand Prix.

Marco Bezzecchi has revealed he had “many, many opportunities” to stay in the Moto3 class in 2019, as well as several strong options in the intermediate category, before settling on signing for Hervé Poncharal’s all-new Red Bull KTM Tech Moto2 squad.

KTM is yet to beat the best race result of its rookie MotoGP season, but the factory insists it is 'not panicking' and will eventually reach its victory goal, no matter how long it takes.

KTM has officially confirmed that, as rumoured , Loris Baz will return to MotoGP action at Silverstone this weekend in place of the injured Pol Espargaro.

Will Loris Baz return to MotoGP action at Silverstone this weekend, replacing the injured Pol Espargaro at the factory KTM team? It's yet to be officially confirmed by team or rider, but several reliable French sources are reporting it will happen: