KTM has finally been able to ‘revitalise’ its MotoGP engines following reliability issues in the 2026 MotoGP season.
In a procedure that began last Monday at the brand’s engine production centre in near Mattighofen, its engineers and technicians opened the engines that caused so many headaches during the first part of the season.
During the process, the parts that supposedly caused the failures were replaced and the units were resealed, in order to reintroduce them into rotation for the remainder of the campaign, starting with this weekend’s Aragon Grand Prix.
As Autosport revealed earlier this month, the other manufacturers in the championship gave KTM their approval to open the engines and the Austrian manufacturer has proceeded with the task with utmost discretion and under strict security measures and supervision of the FIM.
Although nobody has so far confirmed which parts have been replaced, everything suggests that the origin of the problems could be found in the pneumatic valves fitted to each engine.
It so happens that this component was what penalised Yamaha in 2020. On that occasion, a supplier defect altered the size of the M1’s valves by hundredths of a millimetre. As with KTM in this case, the Iwata-based brand also received the approval of the other manufacturers at the time to unseal its engines.
Each power unit on a MotoGP bike has four cylinders and 16 valves. In addition to replacing each of the valves, once an engine has been opened, some elements, such as washers, gaskets, lubricants and other details must also be changed, turning each of the seven opened power units into practically new components.
KTM engine
Photo by: KTM Images
Since the problems began to emerge, KTM made the decision to limit engine power in some races, depending on the characteristics of the circuit, but it is unclear if KTM will continue to do so after recent fixes.
Four engines for Acosta
KTM has had a large number of engineers and technicians working to make all the changes, with particular attention paid to the four engines in Pedro Acosta’s rotation.
The Spaniard’s bike stopped unexpectedly on several occasions this year, with the accident he caused at Barcelona being especially dramatic. KTM has since limited the engine revs on his bike.
So far this season, Acosta has opened six units, of which two are already out of the rotation, leaving him with the four now opened, and two more (up to the eight allowed by the regulations) that have not yet been unsealed.
Acosta’s first two engines were used in the first five grands prix of the year (Thailand, Brazil, United States, Spain and France). At the sixth (Barcelona), he brought engine 1 back and opened another new one, number 3. In Italy, he continued with 1 and 3, and opened another new one, number 4.
In Hungary, he kept 1, used 4 and opened a new one, number 5. In the Czech Republic, he used engines 3 and 5, and opened another new one, number 6. After that grand prix, KTM took the last two engines opened, 5 and 6, out of the rotation for reasons that have not been specified. In the Netherlands, Acosta used engines 2 and 3; and in Germany, he went back to the beginning, using units 1 and 2.
There is no information about the engines Acosta raced at Silverstone, but seeing that units 6 and 7 have been discarded, the engines opened by KTM are units 1 to 4; 1 and 2 – which have been used for nine and seven grand prix weekends respectively – have been the most used and will now be extensively ‘revitalised’.
Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
No mileage issues for rivals
Pending clarification of what happened at Silverstone, none of the main title contenders appear to have any engine-related concerns. Aprilia’s Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi have opened five engines each up to the German GP and discarded one apiece, leaving them with three new and four used units available for the remainder of the season.
Trackhouse’s Ai Ogura and Ducati riders Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia have used five each and kept all of them in their rotation. VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantono has opened only four, and has as many new ones remaining.
At the other end of the scale is Brad Binder (KTM), who has opened six and has three out of the rotation, one more than Acosta. At Yamaha, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alex Rins also have three and two discarded engines respectively, although in their case, thanks to the concessions, 10 units are available to them to complete the season.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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