RR WCH 125 ROUND 6
16 June 2006 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

Grand Prix of Italy/Mugello Final Qualifying (03.06.2006)

Mika Kallio 8th on starting grid - Julian Simon at 12th

Track: dry
Weather: 21°C

Red Bull KTM rider Mika Kallio starts on Sunday from the second row at 8th place on the grid while team colleague Julian Simon will be one row behind at 12th place for the 20 lap Grand Prix of Italy. The Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello lies between green hills in Tuscany about 30km north of Florence. The 5.245 km circuit is one of the fastest and technically challenging in the Grand Prix calendar. High speed changes of direction, drops of up to nine percent gradient combined with tight corners are demanding for both racers and material. Unpredictable weather conditions also made it tricky during training for the KTM FRR 125 riders and team to come up with the best possible settings for tomorrow’s race.

Mika Kallio # 36 Red Bull KTM GP 125 — 8thPosition — 1’59.422
“The training didn’t go too well for me today. We tried something new in terms of chassis components and that didn’t work too well. I tried to improve the handling for the high speed direction changes and that went quite well. This circuit is very bumpy in some places so I had a few problems with the chattering. I was really sliding. That was the reason that my best times were not good enough for the first row on the grid. We’ll go back to the setting we used yesterday and it will certainly be a good race.”

Julian Simon # 60 Red Bull KTM GP 125 — 12th Position — 1’59.554
“After the first qualification in the rain I had the provisional pole so I am naturally not happy with the 12th grid position. We had to set up the bike completely differently for today dry practice on dry track. That all worked well but I wasn’t able to get in a really clear lap or to be able to catch onto the back of the fastest group. It should be quite ok for tomorrow and it’s going to be an exciting race.”

Stefan Bradl # 17 Red Bull KTM Junior Team — 23rd Position — 2’00.748
“I went with the wrong group and I never managed to get close enough behind the right riders. I did do my fastest lap on my own. I’ll be hitting the gas right from the start in the race tomorrow and that should bring a good result.”

Michael Ranseder # 9 Red Bull KTM Junior Team — 25th Position — 2’00.924
“We made my transmission a bit longer compared to yesterday. That was better. But I couldn’t manage to get it shown on the time sheet. At the beginning I was in a group that never went for fast time. Later in my second turn I didn’t find good slipstream. I really like it here at Mugello as I was ninth fastest yesterday when the circuit was wet. So I’ll concentrate on a good start and work my way up during the race.“

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