SECOND ON GRID FOR KALLIO
09 September 2006 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

RR WCH 125 Round 13: Malaysian Grand Prix / Sepang 2nd Qualifying

Mika Kallio of Finland starts the Malaysian Grand Prix from second place on the grid while Julian Simon has to be content with 11th grid position after tropical rain washed out the second qualifying on Saturday at the Sepang racing circuit.

Red Bull KTM Juniors Stefan Bradl starts Sunday’s race from slot 22, while his colleague Michael Ranseder is in grid position 31.

The Red Bull KTM GP team is in Malaysia for the first of three races in the Far East. After securing a front row grid position, Kallio has the chance of securing the first ever top podium place in Sepang.

Sepang, with 5,548 km the longest racing circuit in the Grand Prix calendar, is located 50km south of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. The challenging track, with a range of different characteristics, demands the maximum from riders, team and material. Temperatures range over the 30°C, the asphalt heats up to almost 50°C and the humidity is around 70 percent.

With his second grid position start for Sunday’s race, the Finnish rider Kallio has set himself up in the best possible way for his declared target for the race. This time he has his sights on standing on the top of the podium after coming second on the circuit in 2003 (the first podium for KTM 125 ever) and 2005. His 19-year-old Spanish colleague Julian Simon also considers Sepang as his favorite racing circuit. He is not particularly satisfied with his 11th starting position however torrential rain washed out his chances of improving his position in Saturday’s qualification.

Sepang was a brand new experience for Red Bull KTM Junior Stefan Bradl, just 16-year-old, and his Austrian colleague Michael Ranseder. The young German Bradl was constantly improving his performance as he got to know the circuit better but the 20-year-old Austrian Michael Ranseder experienced some difficulties, among others, finding the right line.

Mika Kallio # 36 Red Bull KTM GP 125 — 2nd Position — 2’13.974
“During my last session of yesterday’s qualifying I had problems. I was sliding a lot and could not improve my time. This morning in free practice my KTM felt very good and I cut off 0.7 sec off my fastest time from yesterday. So I’m a bit disappointed that I could not improve the starting position due to the heavy rain this afternoon. But as I did my best time on the tyres I chose for the race and because of the way the bike was working this morning I’m very confident about tomorrow’s race.”

Julian Simon # 60 Red Bull KTM GP 125 — 11th Position — 2’15.424
“This morning my bike was working very well after my team put in a lot of effort last night. Everything was running fine. We had an improvement on the side of the chassis, engine and rider. I had a much better feeling for my bike and could go much faster. I’m quiet disappointed about the rain this afternoon because I could not improve my starting position, but for sure I will try my best tomorrow and hope for a good result here at Sepang.”

Stefan Bradl # 17 Red Bull KTM Junior Team — 22nd Position — 2’16.577
“Yesterday I worked on a couple of particular parts of the circuit so that I could improve, step by step. What I wasn’t able to do was to put those improvements together to put in one really fast lap over the whole circuit. I put in my fastest lap this morning in my fourth lap riding right behind Julian Simon. After that I played a bit with the time. Sometimes I waited for some of the other riders or I came up against some riders going slow that time. But on my own I was only three tenths off my best time and I have the feeling that I have even more potential. What I need for tomorrow is a very good start and to be able to make up as many places as possible.”

Michael Ranseder # 9 Red Bull KTM Junior Team— 31st Position — 2’18.111 “Somehow I have not yet come to terms with things here. I needed to have an improvement in the bike setup after the afternoon training so that I could find the right line. Until now I still haven’t found a good fluid rhythm. This is not an easy circuit. It has very tight slow corners and a whole lot of high speed curves. I am having the most problems coming out of the tight corners. To do that it is important to take enough speed with you because immediately after you are facing a long straight.

Conditions for Friday’s 1st Qualifying Training
Circuit: Dry / 48°C
Air Temperature: 31°C
Humidity: 72%

GP 125 race Sunday, 10th September 12.00

Time schedule in local time. Time difference: Sepang = GMT +8 / CET +6

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