KTM brings new MotoGP engine to Jerez after Le Mans test

The Austrian manufacturer took an engine based on a "new idea" to Le Mans earlier this week, to be evaluated by race pair Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith and test rider Mika Kallio.

Encouraged by the initial findings, with the work aimed at improving power delivery, the engine has been sent to Jerez, with a meeting on Thursday evening to determine whether it will be used during the race weekend, or in Monday's post-race test.

"The guys took the plane yesterday at 3am to come here after the test at Le Mans," Espargaro said.

"Since they arrived here, they have been working on the electronics to understand the engine a little bit more. This engine had never been tested.

"If we try it, it will mean that the guys in the workshop and here have done a very good job and they think that we can use it.

"At Le Mans it was even harder [to judge the engine] because the electronics was not adjusted.

"Even if the engine is better, we cannot know now, because it was so young and we need to test.

"We need to use it, we need to make the guys understand a little bit more this engine and make them try to adjust it as much as possible."

Espargaro added that "if we try it, you will hear it", hinting that KTM will drop the only 'screamer' firing order on the grid and adopt the 'big bang' configuration, a switch made by Honda over winter.

Smith felt the change helped rideability rather than delivering a tangible lap time gain from his running on Tuesday, and he hopes to get a chance to try it again this weekend.

"It's quite different," he said. "It's the same engine, it just has a slightly different way of working.

"Generally it has its goods, but it also has its negatives.

"In terms of lap time, we didn't really see anything that stood out massively, we wanted to bring it here to reconfirm that over a race weekend.

"The idea is to make it more manageable, to get more speed out of the corners and look after the tyres a little bit more."