Source: Supplied.

KTM Factory Racing is ready to make its official MotoGP World Championship debut with a wildcard entry during this weekend’s final round of the 2016 season.

Experienced Finnish test rider Mika Kallio will return to racing on the RC16, marking KTM’s first premier class appearance one year after debuting the MotoGP bike and 35 extensive days of testing later.

“We are all very happy with what we did as a team in the year since the first laps in Spielberg, but we see the wildcard entry as another test in our preparation for Qatar 2017,” team manager Mike Leitner said. “It will be our first experience under grand prix conditions – the most important thing is that we can finish the race.

“But it would also be great if we can achieve the performance that we’ve shown recently. Naturally, we can feel the enormous expectations from outside, but we don’t let this deter us. Instead, we try to remain realistic and to see this race weekend experience as the next step.”

Technical director Sebastian Risse commented: “We’ve had a lot of experience and made a lot of developments this year. The set-up day yesterday showed us that everyone in the team has done their homework and, despite the constant time pressure and a lot of new parts, we apparently didn’t leave anything at home.

“Today, from the technical point of view, we hope to have a more relaxed one and to complete detailed work in preparation for the race weekend. We hope to experience many things that weren’t possible during testing.”

Kallio will return to the MotoGP grid for the first time since the 2010 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix when he rode for Pramac Ducati and has been highly successful to date in his development role with KTM.

“The start in Valencia will be a remarkable moment,” Kallio said. “KTM is presenting this new bike and it is a great honor to be the one to compete with it for the very first time. This whole year has been great and I couldn’t imagine a better way to end the season. This coming weekend will be memorable for me and for all the KTM staff.

“The team will have valuable experience working under pressure and I can finally enjoy riding MotoGP again. I’m not going to be at the back of the pack in this race – I’ll be focusing on some of my personal goals after the timed free practices. I can race without pressure and I believe I’ll be on fire when the lights go out.”

Kallio’s debut will be followed by KTM Factory Racing 2017 signings Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith joining the team for their RC16 debut at Valencia on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week in the official IRTA test.