The Italian manager, hired by the Austrian manufacturer before last season, met Miller again in 2023 after having worked with him during the period spent together with Ducati Pramac.
In addition to the natural talent he has always shown, he also stands out for the commitment, self-criticism and good vibes he always generates around him. This is what Guidotti says about the Townsville boy’s personality, who has also become the perfect thermometer for KTM to assess the state and progression of its MotoGP prototype. The bike Brad Binder rides on is third in the general standings, just 13 points behind leader Pecco Bagnaia, and is the only non-Ducati bike in the top six.
In 2023 KTM entered its seventh season in the premier class, a very ambitious project that started with some hitches, made a significant leap in quality in 2020 and is now starting to show signs of consolidation. The five podiums conquered by the Mattighofen-based duo, between Sprints (three) and traditional races (two), are a good indication of the potential of the RC16. A potential that Miller took the trouble to confirm after a five-year period at Ducati (2018-2022).
“Jack brought a lot of experience with him, which is what we needed. His indications gave us confidence and confirmation. He gives us a point of view that we didn’t have on our bike; the perspective of someone who didn’t know the KTM It has been very positive for us,” Guidotti told Motorsport.com in a telephone conversation.
Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Francesco Guidotti, Team Manager Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“When we hired him we were very clear with him. We told him we needed his help to have an opinion on the bike and to push us to take a step forward in development. There was a lot of work to do. He needed feeling important after learning that Ducati didn’t count on him for the factory team, and this motivated him a lot,” continued the Italian.
The difference between the mood projected by the Austrian team this winter and the current one is enormous. Especially in the Sepang tests, where the team did an enormous job of selecting all the material available, to have a more or less solid base. For the team manager, the surprising thing is not the level reached in this first third of the championship, but the speed with which it was achieved.
“It’s not that everything went better than we expected; it’s that it went sooner than we expected. It’s all thanks to the component selection work we did in Malaysia and Portugal,” says Guidotti.
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