Shortly after F1 owners buy MotoGP, Guenther Steiner completes a $23m acquisition of the KTM customer team

Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has completed his acquisition of the KTM customer team, Tech3, in MotoGP. The Italian had been keenly interested in investing in the sport for the last couple of months and had been open about his pursuit in the media.

The former Red Bull man made a name for himself in Formula 1 after he endeared himself to the watching fans on Netflix's F1 documentary series Drive to Survive while leading the American team. Steiner emerged as one of the stars of the show and has banked on his fame ever since.

Steiner transitioned into punditry after his contract with Haas was not renewed at the end of the 2023 season and was replaced by Ayao Komatsu. As reported by Motorsport.com, Guenther Steiner, along with his partners Apex Capital, who invest in sports and athletes globally, completed a $23m acquisition of the Tech3 team from Hervé Poncharal and Guy Coulon.

The investment is the first of its kind since F1 owners Liberty Media took over the sport from Dorna for approximately $5 billion recently. The American owners are poised to take MotoGP to similar heights as they did with F1 over the past decade.

Guenther Steiner reflects on his investment in the Tech3 MotoGP team

F1 Grand Prix of Belgium - Source: Getty

Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner stated he had no intention of denying his interest in acquiring the Tech3 MotoGP team. Speaking with The New York Times a while back, the 60-year-old reflected on the subject and said:

“I’ve looked into it, I speak with quite a few people. I don’t want to deny it. I mean, I would be stupid to deny it, but no, it’s not done. But I’m working (on it). I always work on projects my whole life and (find) things to do. So, that is one of them because I find (MotoGP) very interesting. "Also, a sport which has got a lot of potential to grow because the sport is fabulous — the racing is pretty cool! “What these guys are doing is bonkers. And I just saw an opportunity."

Guenther Steiner also spoke about the potential of the biggest two-wheel championship in the world and added:

“I think (MotoGP) has got a lot of potential to grow as a sport — a little bit like F1 did. There is a lot of potential there to attract more fans because it’s such a good sport. "I think the sport will grow anyway, with or without Liberty, to be honest. So, I believe in it with or without Liberty. Obviously, Liberty, what they did with F1 is fantastic. And I think they could help make MotoGP bigger for sure.”

Not just Steiner, but Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton had also spoken about his interest in owning a MotoGP team previously.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam