MIKA KALLIO 6TH ON THE GRID; JULIAN SIMON AT 14TH
20 May 2006 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

RR WCH 125: 5th Race: French Grand Prix/ Le Mans: 2nd qualifying (20.05.2006)

Track: dry
Temperature: 16°C

The narrow Le Mans circuit, site of the French Grand Prix, the fifth race in the World Championship season may not be the favorite for KTM’s Mika Kallio but he still managed to finish a creditable sixth place in training ahead of Sunday’s race.

Kallio whipped through the circuit, with its challenging first and second gear curves despite problems finding a perfect setup for the bike in the continually changing weather conditions. The team secured a good dry weather setup for the first qualifying session but heavy gusts of dominated during the second session, blowing the fast Finn into sixth place at the close of the session. Teammate Julian Simon also struggled with the tough wind conditions during the second session but also with his KTM. His fastest lap was held back by a jammed engine and he starts at 14th position on the grid on Sunday.

Le Mans was new territory for Red Bull KTM Juniors Stefan Bradl and Michael Ranseder.
The 16-year-old Bradl overcame a spill in the morning session to secure a place in the sixth row of the starting grid at place 23. Michael Ranseder, who is still struggling to overcome the consequences of the race crash in China, starts one row behind at place 27.

The fifth Grand Prix of the season takes place some 200 km south west of Paris at the Le Mans circuit and just one week after the last event in China, the KTM team, thanks to excellent logistics, motorcycles and teamwork, are all set and READY TO RACE on Sunday.

Mika Kallio # 36 Red Bull KTM GP 125 – Sixth grid position – 1’45.452 “The weather conditions made it difficult for us here. We found a good setup for dry conditions and also for the wet. But this afternoon we had this extreme wind to cope with and I had difficulties in various sections of the track. I am still confident for tomorrow. My team tries everything to prepare a perfect bike for me and I know I still can get a whole lot more out of it.

Julian Simon # 60 Red Bull KTM GP 125 – 14th grid position – 1’45.962 “Today we had to cope with very strong winds in the final session but that was the same for everyone. I was able to improve on my yesterday’s time by 1.5 seconds but that wasn’t good enough for a place up front on the grid. Then my engine broke in my last really fast lap and I wasn’t able to manage anything better than 14th. I know I can lift my game tomorrow and I think it’s going to be a good race.”

Stefan Bradl # 17 Red Bull KTM Junior Team – 23rd grid position – 1’46.991
“Just before training I got a sudden sharp headache and I don’t know if that was a result of my crash in the morning session. Also my left arm is quite sore. Because of this the first part of the training was certainly not optimal. I was always out there on my own and I never really found the best line. I was able to motivate myself towards the end of the session and improve my time by two seconds. That produced the 23rd place.

Michael Ranseder # 9 Red Bull KTM Junior Team – 27th grid position– 1’47.573
“Somehow today I didn’t manage to come to terms with the circuit and at the moment I don’t really know why. I was coming out of the corners well but losing time on the straight. That was the reason I only managed to improve my time from yesterday by a second.

Just as I did in China, I will try to have a good start in the race and I hope that this time I won’t be taken out by one of my opponents.“

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