Grand Prix motorcycle racing has a new aspirant, with rapidly expanding Chinese marque CFMOTO declaring it will go Moto3 racing in 2022 alongside German-based team Prüstel GP.
The huge announcement, made at the penultimate round of the 2021 Road Racing World Championship in Portugal, will see the Sino-German partnership compete in the 21-round world championship with equipment based on KTM’s world-championship-winning RC4 machine.
CFMOTO will have full access to the experience and engineering acumen of KTM, which has been a technical and operational partner of CFMOTO since 2013.
The CFMOTO-KTM alliance started with the production of small-capacity KTM-badged models for China, and today the joint venture comprises an R&D building and manufacturing facility in Hangzhou.
In Australasia, the first bikes emanating from the KTM/CFMOTO joint venture will be the upcoming 800MT adventure touring range, powered by a potent 790cc parallel-twin engine.
Eighteen-year-olds Xavier Artigas and Carlos Tatay will represent an all-Spanish Prüstel GP roster for 2022. Artigas scored a sensational podium finish on his maiden Grand Prix appearance at Valencia in 2019, and Tatay is a former Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup champion.
Prüstel GP has been in the Moto3 class for five years, and has fielded GP winners like John McPhee and 2020 world champion Albert Arenas. The professionally run family team is based in the Saxony area of Germany.
CFMOTO’s elevation to a Grand Prix marque follows on from a number of years competing in various domestic championship via its international subsidiaries, and it has been a mainstay at the Isle of Man TT since 2013 as the only factory team from China.
“Entering the category and the Grand Prix motorcycling world championship means a new adventure for us and one we are very excited about," says CFMOTO Racing Development Manager, Su Zhen.
"We are grateful to have some strong partners, like the Prüstel GP team, and we know the series is very competitive. We cannot wait to start, and we will also look to challenge more international racing events in the future. We hope fans, especially the ones in China, will follow us on our journey!”
“We are proud that Prüstel GP can collaborate on a project like this, says team Manager, Florian Prüstel.
"In tricky times worldwide - and also for motorsports – we are grateful to have a partner like CFMOTO on our side. With this big global manufacturer behind us we will have a great opportunity to bring the best sporting results and media exposure for the brand.”
The 2022 Road Racing World Championship will commence in Qatar on March, 6, and conclude eight months later in Spain on November 6. For the first time since 2019, the calendar will make a return to the spectacular Philip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria from October 14-16.