KTM 990 RC R being prepared for 2027 race debut with well known test rider
The KTM 990 RC R was on-track at Portimao last week in the hands of former MotoGP rider Jonas Folger.
The World Supersport Championship is moving closer to welcoming the involvement of KTM, after the Austrian brand put its 990 RC R on-track last week.
Ex-MotoGP rider and current KTM test rider Jonas Folger rode the largest of the Austrian factory’s current sport bike line-up – which also includes the RC 390, RC 200, RC 125, and the track-only RC 8C – at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia last week, as reported by Italian publication GPOne.
It was one of the first tests for the 990 RC R (also available in a 'Track' variant, pictured below) in Supersport trim, although its race kit is not yet homologated to compete in the world championship. This is expected for 2027, when the Freudenberg team, which until last year ran RC 390s in the World Supersport 300 class (which has been replaced for 2026 by a new World Sportbike category), will run the bikes.
At the minute, the project is in its early stages, but 2026 is set to be the first year since 2016 – the last year before the 300 class arrived in the paddock – that KTM will not have a presence in any class in the WorldSBK ladder.
An arrival in World Supersport next year would, of course, correct that for 2027, and it would be a debut for KTM in the class. Supersport, incidentally, has seen several brands debut in recent years, especially since the introduction of the ‘Next Generation’ rules, including the Chinese brands QJMotor and ZXMoto.
The 990 RC R would also have the second-largest displacing engine (at 947cc) in the class, behind only the 955cc Ducati Panigale V2 that won the title in 2023 with Nicolo Bulega and then again with Adrian Huertas in 2024.
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