MotoGP analysis: How Kalex took over Moto2, in the March issue – Roadracing World Magazine

Featured in the March 2022 issue of Roadracing World:

A decade and a half ago, Klaus Hirsekorn and Alex Baumgartel (K and Alex for Kalex) worked for Holzer Motorsport, which ran Opel’s DTM motor racing operations and still works in the sport, building prototypes for Porsche and d other car brands.

But Hirsekorn and Baumgartel were motorcycle enthusiasts at heart, so they started building bikes, just to have fun on the track. Their first chassis – housing an Aprilia RSV Mille engine – worked so well that they put Australian racer Damian Cudlin on the bike. Cudlin started winning races right away.

“We thought, ‘Hmm, maybe this thing isn’t so bad,'” says Baumgartel, the designer of Kalex. “So we said, ‘OK, let’s quit our jobs and try to survive in the motorcycling world.’ We wanted to do trail bikes.

“The first years were difficult, financially speaking. We were designing and testing and riding and racing, and I was doing freelance automotive work, trying to get some money. Then, in 2009, the Moto2 regulations appeared. We said to ourselves: ‘OK, this is our chance’. Let’s invest everything we have…’”

—MotoGP analysis: How Kalex took over Moto2, by Mat Oxley

Over the past 10 years Kalex has won more Grand Prix races and World Championships than Ducati, Suzuki and Yamaha combined. Kalex is the third most successful manufacturer in the intermediate category of MotoGP, with just Yamaha and Honda in front. How could a small company reach such dizzying heights? MotoGP editor Mat Oxley outlines Kalex’s road to success in the latest issue of Road racing world!

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