KALLIO AND TALMACSI QUALIFY IN TOP FIVE AT BRNO
27 August 2005 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

Flying Finn Mika Kallio led the Red Bull KTM charge in today’s final qualifying session at Brno in preparation for tomorrow’s Czech Republic Grand Prix.

Kallio will start from third position on the front row of the gird, two places ahead of Hungarian teammate Gabor Talmacsi. Both riders failed to improve their times from yesterday’s opening qualifying session as they encountered heavy traffic and some minor set-up problems in preparation for the 19 lap race.

Young Spaniard Julian Simon rode through the pain barrier on his KTM to record the 13th fastest time, battling a sprained left ankle suffered in a crash on Friday.

Despite the injury Simon improved his time by 0.3s and he is determined to make an even stronger showing in the race.

Both Kallio and Talmacsi have been consistently fast in two days of practice and qualifying are expected to be in the lead group, as they have at every race this season.

Weather conditions were sunny and warm for final qualifying at the fast, but bumpy, Brno circuit.

Red Bull ADAC KTM Junior rider Michael Ranseder cut 1.4s from his Friday qualifying time to impressively claim 12th place on the third row of the grid.

However his teammate Stefan Bradl was disappointed to drop to 26th on the gird, unable to improve his best time from yesterday.

Both Ranseder and Bradl have wild card entries at Brno.

MIKA KALLIO #36 - Third - 2’08.875

“My main problem was too much traffic, especially with riders following me and waiting for a tow -- i did not want to give them an advantage. Also I tried a harder compound tyre on my first run but this did not feel comfortable, too much chatter. On softer tyres the bike was more stable than yesterday and I think we can have a fast set-up for the race. Starting from the front row is OK.”

GABOR TALMACSI #14 - Fifth - 2’09.045

”I’m disappointed. I changed the rear shock for practice but this set-up did not work, especially with the larger size rear race tyre. The bike was nervous plus my tactics were not perfect in qualifying, i was waiting for a tow and then needed one more lap. I will go back to my Friday set-up for the race.”

JULIAN SIMON #60 - Thirteenth - 2’10.049

“I still have quite a lot of pain from my sprained left ankle plus the gearbox settings were not perfect so I’m not very happy. I needed to get a slipstream tow for a fast time but it didn’t happen, but I’m aiming to do better in the race.”

HARALD BARTOL - Technical and Managing Director

“Even though he dropped a couple of places Mika is very confident for the race and along with Gabor they both should be up front, the times are very close. All three riders will use the evolution engine we have brought to Brno which delivers improved acceleration and more over-revs. A small step forward that is working well for the riders.”

MICHAEL RANSEDER #76 - Twelfth - 2’09.998

“My bike ran perfectly especially after some small changes to the set-up. Starting on the third row will give me chance of racing with the front group of riders tomorrow.”

STEFAN BRADL #77- 26th - 2’11.400

“I don’t know why but this was not my session, I couldn’t improve my times from yesterday but I hope to have a better race.”

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