Front row for Mika at Sepang qualifying

Mika Kallio will join his Marc VDS -teammate Esteve "Tito" Rabat on the front row for the Malaysian Moto2 Grand Prix, after overcoming rear grip issues to qualify in second position, just over a tenth behind his teammate.

It is the fourth time this season that the Marc VDS riders have lined up alongside each other in position one and two on the grid, but never before has the outcome of the race been so important for the championship battle, which has raged between Rabat and Kallio since the first race of the season in Qatar.

Should Rabat finish seventh or higher in the race then he will be crowned as the 2014 Moto2 World Champion on Sunday afternoon at Sepang, regardless of where his Marc VDS teammate finishes. All Kallio can do is race to win, while hoping that the rich vein of form that Rabat has enjoyed since Brno finally deserts him tomorrow. 

Mika Kallio // 2nd // 2’07.587
“If I want to win the race tomorrow then there is no place for a plan; I need to brake later, open the throttle earlier and fight from the first metre to the last! The conditions are really difficult, it’s hard to find a good setting but as we saw in qualifying, it’s the same for everyone. We do need to think about the tyres as the grip is good initially, so you can be aggressive, but then it drops off quite quickly and then you need to a little bit more gentle, more smooth, to maximise the grip. We are in not too bad a position at the moment, and we’ve closed a lot on Tito in qualifying, but we could do with another two tenths per lap and a bit more consistency in the race. I need to win here and I need to win in Valencia, but it’s really down to Tito at the moment. He has a big advantage, but we will keep putting on the pressure and see what happens.”

Photo: Gold and Goose Photography

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