Jonas Folger: lightning-fast comeback to MotoGP and a titanic challenge with KTM at Le Mans

Jonas Folger ready to race in MotoGP three years after the last time. KTM gets four bikes back on track, though it will be a demanding challenge.

KTM’s announcement about the replacement for Maverick Vinales at Le Mans, unfortunately still dealing with physical issues, certainly caught everyone by surprise. For Jonas Folger it will be a colossal challenge, not due to a lack of talent, ability, or experience, but because he hasn’t contested a MotoGP Grand Prix since 2023. It may seem like a short time, but the German has other duties within the brand, he no longer follows the same preparation as a professional rider, and MotoGP moves at lightning speed.

Let’s not forget that development has always focused more on feedback from Dani Pedrosa and Pol Espargaro, who therefore have the full picture of the situation. KTM, however, not wanting to leave an RC16 sitting idle in the garage again, had to make an obligatory choice, given that #26 has definitively said no to returning to racing, while #44 is still recovering from a hand injury sustained during private testing.

Folger did at least get the chance to get back on the KTM MotoGP bike during two days of private testing at Mugello, held on May 4 and 5. "Two days also to get used to the speed again" Jonas Folger joked in an interview with Speedweek. Admitting that "It was good to have this opportunity, otherwise the weekend would have been ten times harder than it already is." Compared to test riders from other manufacturers, he is in fact the most ‘underprepared,’ as mentioned earlier due precisely to his different role at KTM. "It was a real surprise, it all happened at the last minute" he added regarding the request to replace Vinales at Le Mans.

The German knows very well he has a tall order ahead of him: MotoGP has changed radically since he was a professional rider himself, but also since that June 2023, when he contested his last Grand Prix at the TT Circuit Assen. "You can’t expect miracles" Folger stated plainly. "The days are gone when the last three riders could be two seconds a lap off. The fact that Toprak Razgatlioglu is currently running at the back of the group says it all". No pressure from KTM, which will return to the Bugatti Circuit with four bikes. A risk, but it will also be interesting to see how he fares.

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