Kallio satisfied with Jerez work

Tweet

Mika Kallio is confident he has arrived at a solid set-up on his Marc VDS Kalex Moto2 machine ahead of next month's season opening round of the championship in Qatar. 

Kallio posted the fourth fastest time overall during the three-day Jerez test in Spain and his best lap of 1m 42.301s was just 0.318s adrift of the top time set by fellow Kalex rider Claudio Corti. 

The Finn completed a full race simulation on the third and final day on Wednesday, when he managed his quickest time on the fourth lap. 

“It's been a good three days of testing here in Jerez. The plan was to get a little bit closer to the front and we achieved that today with fourth position and less than half a second off the fastest time, so I'm satisfied with that,” he said. 

“During the race simulation the bike felt good for all 23 laps and my times were both fast and consistent, which means we go to Qatar in a good position. 

"Conditions will be very different in Qatar, but the work we've done during testing means we're pretty sure even now how we need to set-up the bike for the first race. 

“Remaining calm is the key to the first race; we know we have the pace to challenge the front runners, so we just need to continue with the approach that's worked so well for us during testing.” 

Michael Bartholemy, team manager, added: “Mika's methodical approach to testing certainly paid off today, with his fastest lap of the test coming during his race simulation this afternoon. 

"He will be quick in Qatar, a track that he has done well at in the past, and I'm confident he'll get his second season in Moto2 off to a strong start.” 

Kallio's team-mate, Scott Redding, struggled with illness and machine issues but the young British rider ended the test just 0.3s slower than Kallio's best lap. 

“Scott struggled a little with illness and an engine problem during these three days at Jerez, but he proved during the previous tests this year that he has the pace to run at the front, so he will head to Qatar with his confidence intact,” added Bartholemy. 

“After such a long break I think we're all looking forward to the first race, where I hope we'll make a strong start to the season.” 

The opening round of the Moto2 World Championship will be held at Qatar over the weekend of April 7-8. 

source: crash.net

read more...

Kallio impressed by progress of Suter MotoGP prototype

Tweet

Mika Kallio’s duties as Test rider for the developing Suter MotoGP machine continued on Monday at Brno, where the Finnish rider put in a solid 81 laps as the Swiss manufacturer and its collaborators in the project – the Marc VDS Racing Team – made further progress on the 2012 bike.

Six weeks on from the previous Test at Mugello the Suter and Marc VDS engineers had made noticeable progress, and by the close of the day Kallio had posted a best lap of 2’00.144 on the BMW engine powered machine – 3.976s off Casey Stoner’s top time on the Honda 1000cc machine.

Reviewing the progress made, Kallio told motogp.com: “Here, things went much better than before. We tested three times in Mugello and we had a few problems there – the lap time was not at the level we wanted it to be, and we were too slow. However, when we arrived here everything was immediately better, it looks like the bike fits this track better, and lap-by-lap I’m getting used to this level of power again and the lap time has been improving. Step by step we have made quite a lot of changes for the electronics and the clutch system, and for the engine braking too, and it looks like we made quite a big step today. I think the team and I can be happy, our level is quite good at the moment.”

Kallio is confident the encouraging advances in the machine can continue, and he added: “I think we still need to improve on the same areas that we improved here. The biggest problem in this Test was that when I entered the corners I didn’t have such a good feeling in the rear, there is a little bit too much sliding, and it’s difficult to turn in because I miss the feeling in the rear a little bit. It looks like that’s where we’re losing the time. Of course we need to work a lot with the electronics and many other small things, but I think if we can improve the rear in entry, then it should be better.”

source: MotoGP Official Website

read more...

Carlos Checa Set To Replace Mika Kallio

Tweet

Carlos Checa will back to MotoGP to replace Mika Kallio on Pramac Ducati. Checa will race for Pramac Ducati on the last 2 races of 2010 season at Estoril and Valencia. Mika Kallio now sits at the bottom of the MotoGP 2010 leaderboard.

Carlos Checa was posted a video on his official Twitter account. He already testing the official Ducati GP19 machine at Mugello. The Spaniard, who has 220 grand prix starts to his name, would be an ideal replacement for Kallio, bringing necessary experience to a Pramac team that has persevered with two fairly novice riders in 2010. However, Checa already committed to a two-year deal with Althea Ducati in World Superbikes. So we only can see him at last 2 races of this season.

Welcome back Carlos!

read more...

Only 1 Rider For Pramac Ducati 2011

Tweet

Pramac Ducati will not use 2 riders on next 2011 MotoGP. After rumors that Max Neukirchner, superbikes rider will join Pramac next season, now there's a new rumors said that Pramac will only use 1 rider. And the name of the rider is Loris Capirossi. 

Although it was not official, but Capirossi's manager, Carlo Pernat insisting that the contract has been signed. It also underlined by Rizla Suzuki's Francis Batta that next season, Rizla Suzuki only use 1 rider. And the strong candidate for this position is Alvaro Bautista. Alvaro Bautista had a good progress in a view 2010 races.

So if this rumors is correct, we will not see Aleix Espargaro and Mika Kallio again at the MotoGP race next season. Poor performance from Mika Kallio maybe is the main point why this Finland rider moved to Moto2  with Ajo Motorsport next season. Also Aleix Espargaro that joined his brother Pol on Moto2.

In the next season MotoGP, there are only 15 bikes, after Interwetten Honda will pulling out due to budget and sponsorship problem.

read more...