2024 will see the launch of the KTM Academy of Speed, which will take place at three European circuits and include input from ‘MotoGP stars’.
The three circuits KTM has identified for the new Academy of Speed are Slovakia Ring - in, erm, Slovakia - and the Austrian Red Bull Ring and Salzburgring tracks.
All three circuits have welcomed top level racing at some point or other. Salzburgring hosted motorcycle Grand Prix racing on-and-off between 1971 and 1994, and WorldSBK in 1995; Slovakia Ring hosted the Endurance World Championship between 2017 and 2019; and the Red Bull Ring hosted motorcycle Grand Prix racing in 1996 and 1997 (then named A1 Ring), and has done so again since 2016.
Each circuit will host one date of the KTM Academy of Speed next year, with all three events lasting two days. Salzburgring will go first on 20-21 June, then Red Bull Ring on 17-18 July, and finally Slovakia Ring on 4-5 September.
KTM says the Academy of Speed “is the brainchild of ex-Grand Prix riders and a result of KTM’s own passion for the asphalt.”
Additionally, it says that there will be groups and tuition for a range of abilities, with three groups to choose from: Rookie, Amateur, and Pro. KTM adds that “help and coaching from the likes of MotoGP stars and former GP racer and MotoGP Team Manager Mike Leitner will happen both on and off the track.”
The identity of the ‘MotoGP stars’ is not given here, but all three events are scheduled for mid-week, and the Red Bull Ring event is set for the MotoGP summer break and a month before the Austrian GP. With that in mind, things are left fairly open for both KTM’s MotoGP race riders - Brad Binder, Jack Miller, and presumably Tech3 GasGas' Pedro Acosta, and Augusto Fernandez - and its test riders - Mika Kallio, Dani Pedrosa, Jonas Folger, and Pol Espargaro - to potentially make an appearance. We’d bank on those in the latter quartet turning up over those in the former, but who knows?
As well as the on-track activities, there will be food and entertainment each night. There are 24 places per group, and 72 places per day, with booking open now on the KTM events website to anyone with a “KTM bike for the track,” KTM says. Prices start at €450 for the entry Rookie group, and go up to €3,490 for the top Pro group.
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