Last minute fright for Kallio and Simon in GP qualifying
in Germany
Red Bull KTM 250 star Mika Kallio and Repsol KTM 250 rider
Julian Simon both start in the first row for Sunday's Grand
Prix of Germany at the Sachsenring but both had an anxious
moment in the final qualifying session just before the final
flag went out.
Two minutes before the end and just as Simon had secured his
second place, the Spaniard's front wheel slipped away. And
while Simon was knocking the dust off his leathers there was
another incident when Honda rider Wilairot crashed his motorcycle
directly in front of the Kallio's front wheel. Just like Simon,
fourth placed Kallio also stood up uninjured. The only handicap
of the championship leader is a bruised thigh, which he incurred
during a 238 km/h high speed crash while on a private test
ride in Brno the week before.
Whereby Kallio and Simon have found perfect settings for their
motorcycles and are hoping for fine weather for tomorrow's
race, there is still a lot of work for Hiroshi Aoyama to do.
Kallio's team-mate, who won the German Grand Prix in great
style in 2007 only qualified in ninth place and has to be
satisfied with a third line starting position.
Julian Simon (Repsol KTM 250 - second in 1:24.057)
"My front wheel slipped from under me just before the
end of the session and I crashed. But apart from that little
incident I am very satisfied with how the weekend is going.
We were fast in all the training sessions, we're right up
with the front riders and we have found a good set-up Naturally
I am hoping that it goes just like this tomorrow and that
we have dry conditions for the race so I can ride with the
same rhythm as today. My goal is to be up with the front group
right from the start and to be celebrating with a podium at
the end of the day."
Mika Kallio (Red Bull KTM 250 - fourth in 1:24.084)
"Everything actually went very well in training. My feeling
for the bike was even better than usual and I was continually
able to put in very fast laps. It was only in the final 10
minutes of the qualifying that things did not go as we had
planned. In the first place there was a lot of traffic and
I wasn't able to improve on my time. And then just as I was
on my last flying lap and saw enough space around me Willairot
crashed and brought me down with him. That was not very good
for us but it could have been worse. We're in the front row,
I didn't get injured and the bike's set up is good. We also
know what tyres we will use. I just hope the weather stays
the way it is and we can race in dry conditions!"
Hiroshi Aoyama (Red Bull KTM - ninth in 1:24.544)
"Of course I wanted to be faster today and to be in the
front row but we had a couple of little problems that cost
me a few tenths of a second and this makes a big difference
and can cost you places on this short circuit. But we don't
put our head in the sand; we continue to work hard. We have
another training session tomorrow morning and we have often
turned things around just before the race. I remain optimistic!"
Harald Bartol (Technical Director)
"I am satisfied. We came out of things ok after the crashes
of Kallio and Simon. My only concern is that Simoncelli looks
extremely fast here. But even so, Mika can still go even faster
when he doesn't get held up in traffic. Luckily he is really
fit because the crash in Brno could have had worse consequences."
12.07.2008
125cc KTM riders optimistic ahead of Sunday's German Grand
Prix
KTM riders in the 125cc class are expressing widespread optimism
ahead of the 125 cc Grand Prix of Germany on Sunday being
held at the famous Sachsenring with three of KTM's best in
the top 10.
A new chassis which has been available to all seven KTM riders
in the smallest engine category for several weeks now has
proven to be especially good on the 3.671 km curving Sachsenring
and three riders from three different KTM teams finished qualifying
in the top ten.
Koyama in good form
ISPA KTM Aran racer Tomoyoshi Koyama, who fought his way to
second place in last year's German GP qualified in seventh
place in front of Raffaele de Rosa (Onde 2000 KTM) in place
eight while Esteve Rabat (Repsol KTM 125) finished in tenth
place. Also Red Bull KTM factory rider Randy Krummenacher
showed considerable improvement in qualifying with place 17,
even if he was held back by a technical defect and had to
finish the final session on the second bike. Despite that
the Swiss teenager is confident that he can be up with the
front riders in Sunday's race.
What the riders said after qualifying
Tomoyoshi Koyama (ISPA KTM Aran 125 - seventh in 1:28.363)
"The Sachsenring is my favourite circuit. Last year I
was on the podium here in second place and also this year
I have a very good feeling. Our setting is terrific and the
new chassis that we got in England is especially good here.
There'll certainly be a very exciting fight with a big group
of riders and I naturally hope that I'll be among the front
runners - and to fight for my first podium place for this
season!"
Raffaele de Rosa (Onde 2000 KTM 125 - eighth in 1:28.410)
"Yesterday I needed the slipstream of another rider for
my time but today I managed to do the decisive lap on my own
without having to refer to another rider so I'm very satisfied
with my place. I could have even gone faster but I got stuck
in traffic and it would have been too dangerous to go even
faster. The bike is running perfectly, we have found good
settings for the motor and the chassis and I am confident
for the race tomorrow!"
Randy Krummenacher (Red Bull KTM 125 - seventeenth
in 1:28.754)
"Yesterday we struggled a lot with the settings but for
the final training today we found the right revs. The changes
have been worth it and I had a great feeling on the bike right
from the beginning. Unfortunately then there was a defect
and I had to change over to the old bike which doesn't have
as much power. With that I was only two tenths of a second
slower than with the number one bike. That showed me that
I can certainly reach a lap time of 1:28.0 with the new bike
and I'm competitive with the rest of the field. Unfortunately
also late in the session the bracket on the fairing broke,
so I had to settle for Place 17. That's certainly not the
best for the start of the race. Nevertheless I'll give everything
to be up with the front riders tomorrow. I can do it and I
really want to be up with the best again!"
Harald Bartol, KTM Technical Director
As far as the 125s are concerned, not with our riders but
rather generally I am somewhat disappointed. The MotoGP class
and the 250s when compared to last year are significantly
faster but not the 125s. Now we have to wait for the race
and even tough Marc Marquez is back in nineteenth place he
can certainly pull off a surprise. I am also happy that Koyama
wants to go for a podium - I'm really curious about what will
happen tomorrow!"
12.07.2008
German GP shakes up order in Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup
JD Beach combined excellent riding skill with capitalising
on two spills by arch rival Luis Salom to steal victory at
the Sachsenring in Germany and take the lead in the championship
standings.
The American has a 15 point advantage but riders have to discount
their worst score of the season. Salom, who fell twice on
Saturday can drop this race and Beach can lose his eight points
from Assen. This leaves a seven point advantage with two races
at Brno to decide things. Beach fought a battle of attrition
coming in ahead of 13-year-old Japanese Daijiro Hiura and
17-year-old Briton Matthew Hoyle. Germany's Daniel Kartheininger,
15, was just 1.5 seconds off the winning pace for fourth place.
Close race for front riders
The four riders exchanged places throughout what was certainly
an exciting the race. "I couldn't get away from the guys
and then later in the race the bike was sliding around quite
a lot and I was just keeping it together," said Beach.
"I saw three laps to go and then the next time round
it was one and I thought I'd better get going. I was in front
and just put my head down. "
Good race weekend for Huira
Hiura was happy enough with his second." It was a great
race, I had a lot of work to do because I made a bad start
but it was OK. I really tried to win but JD was so good in
that last lap I just couldn't get close," he said. Hoyle
on the other hand was frustrated with yet another minor podium
place. But he does hold the lap record at Brno and was second
there last season so his chances of a good result are high.
The race was a disappointment for Salom who has performed
strongly throughout the season. He was taken out by Norwegian
Sturla Fagerhaug who crashed in the first corner, rejoined
the race but crashed again to register his first zero points
of the season.
Results
1. JD Beach, USA, KTM, 27:40.414
2. Daijiro Hiura, Japan, KTM, 27:40.615
3. Matthew Hoyle, Britain, KTM, 27:40.957
4. Daniel Kartheininger, Germany, KTM, 27:41.929
5. Nelson Major, France, KTM, 27:53.704
Championship standings
1. JD Beach 144 points
2. Luis Salom, Spain, 129
3. Sturla Fagerhaug, Norway, 97
4. Daijiro Hiura, Japan, 96
5. Nelson Major, France, 79
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