KTM MotoGP test rider Mika Kallio is riding a prototype version of the 2019 RC16 in his wildcard outing with the Austrian marque at Jerez this weekend.
Kallio is making the first of five scheduled appearances this season in this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix alongside full-time KTM riders Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith.
While the race riders are running the current KTM, Kallio is continuing development of the 2019 bike that started at a private test at Jerez last month.
The Finn – who was 14th and a second off the pace on Friday – remains tight-lipped on the specifics of the new bike, and says his “job” is to steer the team's development path with the '19 prototype based on his performance this weekend.
“I'm the test rider for the race team too, so we need to make [sure] all the time the development of the new parts are coming for the bike,” he said.
“Now my bike is slightly different to the race team bikes, and basically on my bike there is some new stuff.
“This is a really good place to see how everything works, and especially on the race distance on Sunday, we need to see how competitive we are.
“Mainly my job is just to tell to the other guys in the team how I feel on the bike and which is the direction we need to choose for the future.”
Espargaro – who agreed a new two-year deal to remain with KTM earlier in the week – also tested the prototype RC16 at Jerez last month, and said the bike was “super good”.
“We cannot check so much about Mika, because he's using a quite different bike compared to us,” the Spaniard, who was third fastest in FP1 and tenth overall, said.
“He is using the new bike for next year, looks like [it has] super performance. We tried it here one month ago, when I were here before Argentina and Texas.
“The bike was feeling super good, so what Mika is using here we think is a big step.”
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