CFMoto rumoured to be joining MotoGP in place of KTM
Rumours are highlighting CFMoto as the brand set to replace KTM on the MotoGP grid.
KTM’s future in MotoGP remains in doubt, although reports from multiple outlets, including GPOne and David Emmett at MotoMatters, highlight a former technical partner of the Austrian brand as about to step in and take its place.
The brand in question is CFMoto, a brand that, until recently, had a long-standing technical and manufacturing partnership with KTM dating back to 2011. The close ties between the two companies went further in 2022, as it was announced that from 2023 onwards, KTM would handle the distribution of CFMoto’s bikes in certain regions, including the UK. That distribution deal didn’t last long, with KTM’s well-documented financial struggles bringing it to an end in April 2025.
What lies next for KTM’s MotoGP project remains to be seen. Running a team at the pinnacle of motorcycle racing isn’t cheap, and as Rajiv Bajaj, the Managing Director of Bajaj Auto, which is now the majority owner of Bajaj Mobility AG, AKA the group formerly known as Pierer Mobility AG, has stated, costs need to be cut.
What is apparent is that for any of KTM’s racing teams to continue in the premier class, a new owner needs to be found. Lock, stock, and barrel. That new owner seems more likely than not to be CFMoto.
A decade ago, the thought of CFMoto, or any other Chinese brand for that matter, legitimately knocking on the MotoGP door would have been laughed out of the pub. Fast forward to 2025, and it seems a very real possibility. CFMoto already has its hands on parts of the world championship, thanks to the Aspar-led teams in Moto2 and Moto3. And there has been some success on both fronts, with David Alonso taking the Moto3 championship crown in 2024 and Aspars CFMoto-branded bikes scooping wins and podiums in Moto2.
In the wider sphere of motorcycle sport, Chinese brands are beginning to be taken much more seriously. Kove saw the ultimate success in World Supersport 300 in 2025, thanks to Benat Fernandez taking the riders' championship, and in the Dakar Rally, Kove fielded a vast team of riders, even providing a bike to Isle of Man TT legend James Hillier.
And CFMoto and Kove are not alone. In World Supersport in 2026, ZXMoto, which was founded by the ex-CEO and founder of Kove, will take up the challenge with its 820RR-R and the Evan Bros Racing team. ZXMoto has nine new models waiting in the wings for a European expansion, covering modern retros, sports nakeds, and, you guessed it, sportsbikes. In the eyes of Chinese manufacturers, it seems, if you’re building a sports bike and not racing it at the highest level, what’s the point?
And that leads us back to the KTM project and CFMoto. If any of the Chinese motorcycle brands has the links to the MotoGP paddock, the money to fund a team, and the road-bike range to warrant one, it’s CFMoto. We saw at EICMA a hyper-aggressive-looking new sportsbike from CFMoto. Called the V4 SR-RR, it features a 200+ bhp engine, a counter-rotating crankshaft and active aero. While that final point probably won’t make it to production - and is obsolete in MotoGP anyway - wouldn’t that be the perfect machine for a CFMoto-owned MotoGP team to help advertise on the world’s stage?
Win on Sunday, sell on Monday and all that!
Find the latest motorcycle news on Visordown.com
Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
