2023-09-12 19:01:45
KTM is willing to change part of its chassis construction philosophy with the 2024 RC16. The step is not yet final, but the Austrian factory has been testing for some time with a chassis that leaves steel aside to opt for carbon fiber tubespreserving a single steel piece as a connection between the rear swingarm – made of carbon fiber – and the chassis.
Dani Pedrosa has been responsible for developing this new concept, first in his private tests with KTM and then in competition on the occasion of the last wildcard that he starred in at Misano, where the #26 opted for this carbon fiber chassis throughout the weekend, achieving two fourth places in the races on Saturday and Sunday, without a doubt a promising result for the orange factory
Interestingly, to date No one at KTM has publicly said that this 2024 chassis is made of carbon; Drivers and technicians refer to it as a “new technology” frame, but photographs taken throughout the San Marino GP and also at the Misano test confirm that the chassis tubes are no longer made of steel, but of carbon fiber.
On Sunday, Pedrosa spoke briefly about this frame on which they have been working for months. The Catalan recognized “be testing a different chassis, it’s a new technology. Now we are doing the first laps with it on a race weekend. “We want to gather as much information as possible about him,” commented Dani, visibly limited when it came to providing information.
The official Mattighofen drivers They also couldn’t elaborate too much when it came to giving details about the new carbon frame; Both Brad Binder and Jack Miller tried it for the first time in Monday’s test, and although both were fast – the South African finished third and the Australian fifth – we do not know if their fastest laps were the carbon chassis or with an evolution of the tubular steel skeleton that they are using this season and that KM also gave them to try.
Binder assured “not knowing how exactly it works” the carbon chassis when comparing it with the steel one, and also recognized “not knowing when it will arrive” nor if they will be able to use it this year. “Anyway, it’s a bit complicated. I’ve driven it, given my feedback on it and I guess we’ll use it as soon as it’s here.”he limited himself to saying number #33.
From the top of the KTM team, its team manager, Francesco Guidotti, also offered some insights into the strategy that KTM plans to follow with the RC16 chassis. On the one hand, its pilots had the opportunity to test a steel frame that differs slightly from the current one, perhaps thinking about an alternative for 2024 if they are ultimately not convinced by the carbon option.
In this regard, Guidotti has explained to Speedweek.com that this evolution of the steel chassis “it’s not a new piece” and that only presents “small differences with current versions. But we are working in all areas. It was a big surprise to us that we did not receive any new aerodynamic parts to test in this test.. “But we are dealing with chassis versions and also testing modified engines for 2024.”
Addressing the issue of the carbon chassis, Guidotti was just as elusive as his drivers, and limited himself to saying that with this solution “we want to go faster” and? “with this new technology we can act in a more modular way”, again without mentioning the term carbon fiber. “We can adjust the stiffness better if necessary. This has been the first major test with this new technology. At the moment we only have the first version, but it works. In the future we will try different versions. In any case, this concept is really promising,” the Italian glimpsed to say.
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The last time carbon fiber was used massively in the construction of a MotoGP chassis was in 2009, when Ducati opted for this material. for the manufacture of a monocoque frame on its Desmosedici GP9, an idea launched by Filippo Preziosi that ended up being a failure due to the excessive rigidity offered by the set. In fact, the first thing Valentino Rossi asked of Ducati after his arrival in 2011 was the immediate change to a traditional double-spar aluminum chassis, following a scheme similar to the one the Italian had been using at Yamaha.
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