#mayhaps ktm's management themselves could think about adopting a little more of that 'austrian mentality' hm

[batsplat]

"ktm needs pedro" true! But they weren't acting like it until recently. Thinking back to when ktm was one of the (limited) options on the table for marc before he signed factory- Why were they even thinking of giving up acosta? 😭 Or war that a power play and they were never gonna actually have marc as an option but just thinking. How funny would it have been.

this has been bothering me so much for this past year! back in 2023, when the gresini marc thing was being floated, so many journalists and fans were treating it like a one-year stopgap (correct) before marc went to... ktm...? and, yes, I know, red bull sponsorship bla bla bla. but every single time I was like. guys? ktm's full? like ducati looked full but at least there was a seat in 2025 theoretically free to be fought for and a deeply unconvincing incumbent rider! it had to be expected that ktm wouldn't have space!! we all saw what this acosta dude was doing in that moto3 race in qatar! this current trajectory should not have been THAT big a surprise to anyone!

ktm was already being real real brave last year... everyone knew they surely had to make room for pedro but they took their sweet time in announcing it!! which, yes, was partly because they'd put themselves into a deeply uncomfortable position where they had to get rid of someone - and the guy who they had to get rid of was their former golden boy who'd gotten horribly injured at the first race weekend last year. also if memory serves correct, they assured pol they had him covered and he didn't need to look for other options, which is classic ktm - did it with remy, did it with him, did it with miller again this year. but even with that complication, you've kinda got to show your big hope you want him!! they ended up announcing the tech3 move last october... let's be brutally honest, and with full sympathy to pol's situation in particular, what they SHOULD have done was announce pedro's signing last march and go 'eh we'll figure out the other riders later'. obviously they also shouldn't have put themselves in this position in the first place! but the whole issue is that they treat rookies as basically a disposable resource and they were blindsided when their newest victim last year outperformed their expectations, making it way harder to throw him away. truly insane approach to rider management

and there were silly season rumours last year of pedro exploring other options! I have no clue whether they were ever remotely realistic, whether it was something his camp deliberately put out there, whether it was all just paddock gossip, but... guys! what are you doing! we already knew that binder had a contract signed roughly until the sun burns out (apparently it runs through 2026) and last year it would've seemed very implausible you'd have grounds to remove him on the basis of performance. which then! raises the obvious question! if you want to sign marc, where are you intending to put him! pedro being this good should not have been come as a shock! of course, you can never be certain of how a rider actually adapts to the switch, but the working assumption should have been that you are dealing with the next marc marquez! that should have been the assumption before he as much as laid a finger on this bike! why was this marc-to-ktm thing seen as so plausible before the season started?? even before marc said as much, it should've been obvious to anyone that he wasn't just going to... go from one satellite outfit to another... I don't care how much tech3 is supposed to be an extension of the ktm squad, it just wasn't going to wash (I know they had the 'oh maybe we can get more bikes on the grid' but like... guys. please don't try to do your rider management on the basis of a pipe dream. come on)

this season I did have a teensy bit more patience with the rumours, because at least they came with the implicit understanding that one of those factory seats would be pedro's. mostly it had died as a serious possibility and just seemed like a way for... either marc to put pressure on ducati or ktm to put pressure on their beleaguered factory riders... but you do just kinda want to go to ktm and go? lads, stop it? you HAVE your guy, all your energy should be going into making your guy happy - rather than flirting with a thirty one year old who has already embedded himself within ducati. yes, of course everyone wants to have the marc marquez riding for them, of course it would've been great if they could've denied ducati one of martin or marquez.... but you would have had to made a choice that's horrendously ruthless even by ktm standards (that'll also quite possibly piss off your new star), or you would've had to do something that's flat out insane. pedro's shown you'll be fine on the rider front come on

risky game they're playing with pedro! at the end of the day, the loyalty will last as long as he thinks he can win there and not a moment longer. I can't find it unfortunately, but I swear he said at some point after the factory contract was announced... or at least implied that he hadn't been thrilled to go to a satellite team this year, but at least he's on the factory team next year. he's impatient! it can't ever go fast enough for him!

speaking of, here's another article that's just dropped and? lol

objectively excellent rookie season, but not enough for this guy, eh. if this is the standard he's expecting from himself, then you can be certain he's not willing to accept anything less from the team

and here:

I'm sure it's complete coincidence marc is his point of reference! doesn't mean anything! nothing to see here