Aki Ajo becomes the first Finnish team manager for a MotoGP class factory team.
Successfully ran his own stable in the small classes of the World Series of Track Motorcycling Aki Ajo will move to the top class of the sport next season to lead the factory team of the Austrian KTM MotoGP class.
– My nature is such that I seek new challenges. This has been discussed for years, but now was perhaps the right time to embark on such a project. Challenges always interest me, Ajo tells Urheilu.
Ajo replaces an Italian in the position of team manager by Francesco Guidotti. KTM announced on Sunday that Guidotti will not continue in his position after this season. The Austrian factory, which joined the MotoGP class seven years ago, has not been able to win races in the last two years, despite its hard work. Ajo is aware that there is a lot of pressure to succeed in her new role.
– In elite sports at the international level and in the sports business in general, it is always easy to measure the result both internally and externally with athletic results. Of course, financial and organizational matters come on top of that. It makes this kind of work very result-responsible and therefore also sensitive.
– However, I don’t even think about such things myself. We strive to do things to the fullest and improve every day. If it is not enough, then it is only right for the project if people have to be changed. Even if it hits his target, Ajo laughs.
– I see that development must be achieved in two years. Behind it is a big factory and big partners, and the original goal has been to aim for the highest. The most important measure for that is athletic success.
In his own Ajo Motorsport team, Ajo has managed an organization of around 30 people. In the MotoGP class, we are talking about hundreds of people. According to Ajo, his own team will also continue to compete in the Moto3 and Moto2 classes.
The Austrian factory KTM returned to the World Series of track motorcycling in the 2012 season, when Ajo Motorsport acted as its official factory team in the Moto3 class. The cooperation started successfully, because the team’s German driver Sandro Cortese won the first Moto3 world championship in the same season.
The drivers of the Ajo team, known for their coaching and mentoring skills, have won a total of ten world championships in the Moto3 and Moto2 classes over the years. Out of the current 22 regular riders in the MotoGP class, no less than Nine have also previously represented the Ajo Motorsport team in their careers.
About them Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder will be KTM’s factory drivers in the MotoGP class next season, which means that Ajo will have a familiar driver duo to lead. As Ajo’s protégé, Superlupaus Acosta has celebrated the world championship in both the Moto3 and Moto2 classes and Binder in the Moto3 class.
No Finn has ever worked as a team manager in the MotoGP class. Is this a dream come true?
– Maybe it’s my nature that I can’t really think about dreams. I might be a little too passionate about this job. You have to be grateful that you have been able to do this kind of work and to make sure that the passion doesn’t fade with age.
– New projects are always exciting, but I have always had the same attitude towards daily work. Whether it’s the MotoGP class or the Moto3 class or a completely different series. My nature is such that the project must always be handled at the highest level possible and I must be able to improve every day, says Aki Ajo.