RED BULL KTM RIDER HIROSHI AOYAMA OUTSTANDING FOURTH PLACE FINISH
22 May 2006 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

RR WCH 250: 5th race: French Grand Prix/Le Mans: Race (21.05.2006)

Circuit: dry
Air temperature: 18°C

Hiroshi Aoyama, the 24-year-old Red Bull KTM GP 250 rider underlined his outstanding performance in the 250cc class with an excellent fourth place finish in the French Grand Prix on the Le Mans circuit.

Aoyama settled into fourth place shortly after the start of the 26-lap race and despite a bitter struggle with his opponents, was able to hang onto it right up to the finish line. With this result Hiroshi is in third place on the overall standings after five races.

KTM Teammate Manuel Poggialli missed the start chipped away at the opposition to finish in 17th place.

Hiroshi Aoyama # 4 Red Bull KTM GP 250 – 4th place
“That was a good race but very hard. We were in a large group for two thirds of the race. Then for the last six laps it was between two brothers. My team made a good decision for the right Dunlop tyres and that gave me an advantage over my brother Shuhei. Also compared to his my KTM had advantage in both braking and on the straight. He was slightly better in the corners. He was ahead by a nose at the end and stopped me from making the podium. I am satisfied with fourth place today. All weekend I had trouble with a stomach upset that I brought back with me from China. It didn’t bother me once I was sitting on my KTM but somehow it still makes you quite weak.

That’s probably the reason that I’ve found this weekend very tough.

Manuel Poggiali # 54 Red Bull KTM GP 250 –17th place
“What shall I say? I was last from the start and then I collided with someone in the first lap. Then I just tried my best to push as hard as I could and to overtake. I had my fastest laps in the last three laps when the bike was lighter but unfortunately I wasn’t able to do any better than 17th.”

Harald Bartol – Technical and Race Director
“I am certainly satisfied with Hiroshi’s result this weekend. Even though it looks like we have established our KTM 250 project among the front runners, there is certainly still a lot of work to do.”

Photo courtesy of Milagro

www.ktm.at

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