KTM MISS OUT IN SEPANG
11 September 2006 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

The Red Bull KTM GP 250 Team went into the 250cc race confident of a good result with Hiroshi Aoyama third on the grid and Manuel Poggiali starting at 11th.

RR WCH 250 13round: Malaysia Grand Prix / Sepang Race (10.09.2006)

Mika Kallio had already picked up second place in the 125cc class and his Spanish teammate just missed finishing third.

But shortly into the technically demanding 20 lap race on the Sepang circuit in Malaysia it was clear that luck was not on KTM’s side.

The 24-year-old Hirsohi Aoyama retired in lap five with a technical defect and his 23-year-old teammate Manuel Poggiali also was out of the race in the ninth lap with a broken gear shaft.

Hiroshi Aoyama’s team is still working on discovering the cause of his defect while the rest of the crew is wrapping up the work and packing equipment as freight has to be loaded later Sunday night ready for shipment to Australia. The next race is next weekend on Phillip Island, Australia.

Hiroshi Aoyama #4 Red Bull KTM GP 250 – DNF
“I had an ok start and my bike was very strong. I could fight back and pass other riders without problems. I felt very strong and confident that I was going to race into a very good position here at Sepang. But the bike lost power in lap four and I couldn’t race anymore. At the moment we don’t know what the real problem was. At first inspection we didn’t see any problems with the engine. My crew will carefully work towards finding the problem and solving it in time for next week’s race at Phillip Island.”

Manuel Poggiali # 54 Red Bull KTM GP 250 – DNF
“I had to stop at lap nine when my gear shaft broke but I would have preferred to finish 20th without problems. I try to think positive for the future and hope for a race without problems at Phillip Island. Sure our KTM FRR 250 is still a very young project, but I have already had bad luck a couple of times this year so it is sometimes hard for me to keep being positive.

Circuit: Dry /47°C
Air Temperature: 32°C
Humidity: 58 %

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