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Kallio’s Reverse KTM | MOTOGP | SPORT

KTM remained as cagey as they could be about their reverse-spin crankshaft engine that Mika Kallio raced to a top-ten wild-card finish at Jerez at the start of this year’s European season.

The other riders Smith and Espargaro would like to have the engine for this season, and the Spaniard was full of enthusiasm after testing it following the Jerez race. But it has not appeared in public again, and technical chief Sebastian Risse wouldn’t reveal any details.

“I can’t confirm anything about the specs,” he said, at the joint press conference.

“We knew some parts were not ready for racing, for reliability. This is what we need to work on. It is the rider that says when something is ready, and the reliability.”

KTM was late switching from screamer to big-bang close firing intervals last season, in the bike’s debut year; and is alone in using a crankshaft that spins forward, in the same direction as the wheels.

A reverse-spin crankshaft requires an extra gear in the primary-drive train, which saps a little power, but confers several torque-reaction and gyroscopic advantages.

Kallio, German MotoGP 2018