RR125 WCH: 2ND ROUND, RACE: QUATAR LOSAIL/DOHA
08 April 2006 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

Second position for Red Bull KTM’s flying Finn Mika Kallio at GP of Qatar

After consistently improving the set-up of their KTM FFR 125 race machines during the course of practice and qualifying ahead of today’s Grand Prix of Qatar, the Red Bull KTM team were forced to change gear ratios before this morning’s warm up session, to compensate for the 10 m/s headwind blowing along the main straight.

Flying Finn, Mika Kallio, was involved in the fight for a podium finish right from the start of the race, but left his final attack until the last corner, where he snatched a tremendous second place after a photo finish.

Kallio’s KTM teammate, Julian Simon, lost contact with the leading group early in the race, but battled hard in a competitive second group to secure a hard fought tenth position at the chequered flag.

Mika Kallio # 36 Red Bull KTM GP 125 – 2nd place
”I am happy to finish second today, matching my result from this event last year. But this year second place was harder to achieve because we have had some problems with the front of the bike that we weren’t able to completely fix before today’s race. Also, the strong winds we faced today didn’t make things any easier. My goal today was a podium finish, and I achieved that, so I leave here happy with what we’ve accomplished this weekend.''

Julian Simon # 60 Red Bull KTM GP 125 – 10th place
”I got a good start, but today I just didn’t seem to keep the speed to stay with Mika and the leading group. I’m not happy with finishing tenth, but it was just not possible to do any better today. But, we made some improvements to the chassis over the course of the weekend and the bike is working better for me now, so I’m looking forward to the next race. I would like to thank my team who, as always, have done a great job for me.''

Harald Bartol – Technical and Managing Director
“Mika rode a clever race today, especially on the last lap when he timed his attack to perfection, but we also had a little bit of luck. Overall, I’m happy with our result today.''

Stefan Bradl # 17 Red Bull KTM Junior Team – 26th place “Today was not so good for me. I had problems with the bike, particularly in the three fast right-hand corners. I couldn’t follow the line I wanted to, because the bike was running out to the outside of the turn every time. This lost me a lot of time on every lap, which meant I wasn’t able to finish any higher than 26th today. For coming rounds I need to quickly find a good set-up for race day.''

Michael Ranseder # 9 Red Bull KTM Junior Team – crash“My start was pretty good and I managed to make up quite a few positions, which was my plan going into the race. I lost the tow from the group I was racing with along the main straight, so I was pushing hard to catch up when I slid off on the fifth lap.

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