RED BULL KTM GP 250 RIDERS HOLD THE FLAG HIGH FOR THE ORANGE TEAM
19 June 2006 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

RR WCH 250 Round 7: Grand Prix of Catalunya - Race (18.06.2006)

Track: dry
Air: 26°C

Even though the race was over after two laps for their GP 125 colleagues, the Red Bull KTM GP 250 riders “Hero“ Hiroshi Aoyama and Manuel Poggiali were still able to confirm the impressive development. 12 races totally make up the short history of the KTM FRR 250 activity. Before an impressive backdrop with 107,000 spectators on race day and more than 194,000 enthusiastic motorcycle fans over the weekend, the Red Bull KTM riders delivered more impressive performances.
The clutch problem that emerged in Mugello was resolved. Hiroshi had a good start and was lying in seventh place after lap one. Manuel Poggiali made good six places in the first round and was close to the main pack on his Red Bull KTM machine.

Hiroshi Aoyama rode consistently fast lap times and defended his sixth place throughout the 23 laps right up to the finish line. The 23-year old Manuel Poggialli was the front runner in a group of four up to the last four laps. He went pass the checkered flag in eleventh place and missed a top ten place by only 0.4 seconds.

Hiroshi Aoyama #4 Red Bull KTM GP 250 — 6th Place
“That was a hard race. I didn’t have a brilliant start and I lost two seconds on the front group in the first lap, which I wasn’t able to make good during the rest of the race. I did manage to ride consistently fast laps and to finish in a good sixth place. I should be quite satisfied today after the disaster in Mugello – even though I am only really satisfied when I am standing on top of the podium. I want to thank my team whose work was really superb - particularly as my crash in training gave them quite a lot of extra work.”

Manuel Poggiali # 54 Red Bull KTM GP 250 – 11th Place
“I had a good start here in Catalunya. I was able to move up from place 15 to ninth and during the whole race I battled it out for place 9th and 10th in a group of four. It was only in the last four laps that I had some problems and I ended up having to be satisfied with 11th place.”

Harald Bartol – Race Director
''I am quite satisfied with the results of our 250 KTM riders.
We don’t just complete set-up work on a race weekend ahead of the race on Sunday; we are further developing the bike itself right there on the race track. Other factories have a special test team for those activities. We must not make the mistake of forgetting just how new our 250 project really is. Sometimes I think the results we have achieved in this short development time are almost too good. Even though they naturally give me a lot of pleasure and do the whole team a lot of good. Now we have three races in a row. It is going to be difficult for us because we actually could need time to be able to take delivery of new material.''

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