Former Grand Prix racer Jeremy McWilliams officially dropped from KTM testing role after 15 years

An official spokesperson for KTM in Austria has confirmed to MCN that former Grand Prix race winner Jeremy McWilliams has been dropped as a test rider by the brand after 15 years of development work.

“Due to the changing economic conditions affecting KTM AG, we have decided not to renew our contracts with external research and development test riders. Instead, we will rely on our internal test ride teams to continue developing future KTM models,” a statement confirmed.

“We extend our gratitude to Jeremy for his significant contributions over the past 15 years in keeping our products Ready to Race. We hope to maintain a positive relationship and look forward to the possibility of collaborating again in the future.”

Officially confirmed to MCN on Thursday, December 19, the news came little more than a month on from the UK’s Motorcycle Live trade show in Birmingham, where we caught up with McWilliams about his testing plans for 2025.

“We do see some areas of departments being reduced, but for us it’s full steam ahead,” he said at the time. “We’re still working hard and developing bikes for ’25, ’26 and ’27.”

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KTM’s internal spokesperson further clarified that McWilliams never had a full-time contract, and did not have an ambassador contract either. Instead, his agreement with the orange brand was purely on a part time basis as a test rider.

Like many manufacturers, KTM are currently dealing with excessive stock in the marketplace thanks to struggling sales.

As such, the brand is currently undergoing a 90-day ‘self-administration’ process in a bid to restructure the company – with the 2024 financial year expected to end with a negative net financial outlook said to be in the ‘very high’ hundreds of millions.

In a bid to pull themselves out of this situation, Pierer Mobility – the parent company behind KTM, have now appointed Citigroup Global Markets Europe to assist with restructuring and financing measures. 

The brand confirmed in a statement that they are currently in talks with potential strategic and financial investors, both new and existing.