KALLIO THE FASTEST RIDER AT NEW ISTANBUL CIRCUIT
21 October 2005 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

Red Bull Ktm rider Mika Kallio was the fastest rider on the first day of world championship motorcycle competition at the all-new Istanbul Park, the venue for Sunday''s Turkish Grand Prix.

Kallio claimed provisional pole position on the impressive 5.34 km circuit on the outskirts of Istanbul. The Flying Finn was also fastest in the morning free practice session.

Kallio was joined on the provisional front row of the grid by Red Bull KTM teammate Gabor Talmacsi with the fourth fastest time. Talmacsi improved his time from the morning free practice, when he was 15th, by more than three seconds.

Kallio and Talmacsi will be without regular teammate Julian Simon who has withdrawn from the race with a fractured left wrist. Simon has flown home to Spain for specialist treatment and hopes to be fit for the Valencia GP in two weeks.

Simon suffered the injury when he crashed out of last Sunday''s Australian GP at Phillip Island.

The 14 turn Istanbul Park circuit has proved to be an exciting challenge for riders, with a combination of fast corners and elevation changes, including a flat-out top gear corner along the back section of the track.

This is the first motorcycle GP to be held in Turkey and riders and teams will spend the two days of practice and qualifying to maximising the performance of their bikes ready for Sunday’s 19 lap race.

MIKA KALLIO #36 - First - 2''04.74

''It''s a good feeling to be on provisional pole at a new track, although I thought my time could have been a little faster. I tried two different set-ups on my bike this afternoon to try and sort out the best settings for the race, and I only did one fast lap. I always had a big group of riders following me so I didn''t want to give them a tow for a fast time. I really like the track, the grip is very good and there are a lot of fast corners -- especially the flat-in-sixth gear right-hander (turn 11).''

GABOR TALMACSI #14 - Fourth - 2''05.161

''''I''m really happy because this morning I was as only 15th and it was not easy to learn this new track. The main problem is the downhill corners, normally I don''t like this type of corner but now I have a better feeling. We still have many things to try with the bike, gearbox and suspension settings, to find the perfect set-up. But for riding this is a very enjoyable track, the triple apex left-hander (turn 8) is a real challenge, very fast in fourth gear. It''s a fun track but not easy to do a

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