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Mika celebrates first podium of the year like a victory
 Red
Bull KTM 250's maestro Mika Kallio succeeded in riding around
problems he had with the feeling of his bike at the late night
practice sessions for the Qatar Grand Prix and still finished
the season's opening race with a podium place.
"After all our problems in practice, this is like a victory
for us," the Finnish rider declared after the race, his
hundredth start in the world championship 125 cc and 250 cc
series and the first ever night race held under floodlight.
Kallio wound up the 2007 season in top form aboard his KTM
FFR 250 when he won the final race of last season in Valencia.
He had also been in excellent form during pre-season testing.
Starting from the front row of the grid Sunday, the 24-year-old
tucked in behind the front group of riders and with characteristic
tactical savvy, waited patiently for the opportunity to make
his move near the end of the race when some of his opponents
started to run into tyre problems.
Kallio's race plan
"We used exactly the same settings from yesterday's last
qualifying, including the same tyre compounds, and this turned
out to be the right decision," Kallio said. "The
feeling for the bike still wasn't perfect, but at least, it
was a bit warmer today and the improved track conditions helped
me to evaluate the grip limit. My plan was to stay with the
front runners right from the beginning but in the early stages
Barbera was too fast and opened a gap on me. Later on, I managed
to do better lap times and started to catch up again about
the time when Bautista ran into tyre problems and dropped
back. I got really close to Barbera and Pasini on the final
lap but getting ahead of them wasn't possible today."
Kallio was very happy with his third place. He did have some
expectations that a podium might have been possible if all
went well, even after some mediocre sessions during the testing
and practice days in Losail. "To finally achieve it is
fantastic," he said. "I am really looking forward
to the next round in Jerez, where we did well in testing and
where we should have a true chance to fight for victory!"
Not Aoyama's lucky day
Team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama was not so lucky. The Japanese ace
started from the third row of the grid but saw his hopes of
catching up with the leaders dashed when he ran into unexpected
handling problems early in the race. Aoyama dropped back through
the field as a result of a lack of rear wheel grip and some
clutch problems but kept his cool and went on to finish in
sixteenth place.
"I was hoping to be able to turn things around in the
race, but instead, things got worse," Aoyama said. "I
had a decent start, but then, almost from the very beginning,
I didn't seem to have rear tyre grip at all. It was like skating
on ice. I dropped back further and further and later on, I
also had a problem with the clutch. I managed to finish the
race - but this is about the best I can say!"
Repsol KTM rider Julian Simon also fell short of his own high
expectations and finished in eleventh place.
Kallio rode a perfect race, Bartol Says
KTM Technical Director Harald Bartol said Mika made the best
of his chances and rode a perfect race. "His race pace
deserves respect considering his lack of feeling for the grip
level and the tyres. He judged his moves very carefully, and
waited for the right moment to attack.
Results:
1. Mattia Pasini, Italy, Aprilia, 40:16.202
2. Hector Barbera, Spain, Aprilia, 40:16.759
3. Mika Kallio, Red Bull KTM 250, 40:17.231
4. Alex Debon, Spain, Aprilia, 40:17.620
5. Yuki Takahashi, Japan, Honda, 40:29.146
11. Julian Simon, Spain, Repsol KTM 250 cc, 40:57.659
16. Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, Red Bull KTM 250, 41:27.233
KTM luckless in first 125 cc race of the season.
KTM riders went into the first 125 cc GP of the 2008 racing
season hopeful of good results but came away at the end of
the first ever night race empty-handed.
Team Onde 2000 KTM rider Raffaele de Rosa seemed set for a
podium finish for the bulk of the 18-lap (96.84 km) race on
the Losail Circuit in Qatar. But he pushed a shade too hard
in the battle for second place and crashed out of the race
with four laps to go.
Unlucky day for de Rosa
Best KTM rider at the end of the night race was de Rosa's
Onde 2000 KTM teammate Pablo Nieto of Spain who rode to eighteenth
position. Red Bull KTM 125 rider Randy Krummenacher had also
aimed much higher after a promising final practice session,
but ran into handling and grip problems again to finish in
twenty second place.
Hard race for Krummenacher
"That was a hard battle indeed," Krummenacher said
after the race. "It was tough enough to even stay on
the bike. I really had a good feeling yesterday, and even
in the warm-up session for the race, everything seemed to
be all right. But after the start, I hardly recognized my
bike because it was so difficult to keep the cornering lines,
especially going into the turns!"
Heat of the battle
"Of course, we are all a bit disappointed about what
happened in the 125 cc race," KTM Technical Director
Harald Bartol said. "Raffaele de Rosa rode very well
within the leading pack. He defended himself and KTM against
stronger opponents, because Aprilia was a bit stronger today.
Then he had one of those accidents that can happen in the
heat of the battle - that's racing!"
Results
1. Sergio Gadea, Spain, Aprilia, 38:09.444
2. Joan Olive, Spain, Derbi, 38:10.376
3. Stefan Bradl, Germany, Aprilia, 38:11.104
4. Mike Di Meglio, France, Derbi, 38:11.215
5. Scott Redding, Britain, Aprilia, 38:11.263
18. Pablo Nieto, Spain, Onde 2000 KTM, 38:42.335
21. Lorenzo Zanetti, Italy, ISPA KTM Aran, 38:46.140
22. Randy Krummenacher, Switzerland, Red Bull KTM 125, 38:46.198
Not Classified
Raffaele De Rosa, Italy, Onde 2000 KTM at 3 laps
Tomoyoshi Koyama, Japan, ISPA KTM Aran at 10 laps
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