Kallio eighth after a big fight in Austin

The second Moto2-race of the season 2015 on the Circuit of the Americas-track in Austin, Texas, was won by the brit Sam Lowes. Johann Zarco finished second and Alex Rins was the third man on the podium. Kallio got a good start for the race, by climbing up from start grid position 11 to 8th place. This was his final result as well, in a race he claimed to be one of the most demanding of his long career. 

 -There was pretty much nothing happy about this race, except the few points we managed to gather. We did some last minute adjustments to the bike just before warm-up, and they seemed to work fine as I was the fastest man on track this morning. Sadly when the rain ended and the track dried up towards the afternoon, we noticed too late that these settings were not correct after all. After realising this, it was a great struggle to finish the race and not to surrender before the finish line, even though riding was far from enjoyable today, a disappointed Kallio stated. 

 After 14 consecutive seasons on the world series of road racing, Kallio claims the race in Austin to have been of the most demanding of his life. 

 -I got a good start to the race and was able to ride with the front guys for a while, but surely just because I had fresh new tires and a good grip due to that. When the tires started to wear down, the challenges started to appear and the bike became tremendously heavy and demanding to ride. The race was physically very demanding and I tried to do everything in my power to finish the race with style and gather at least some important points, an exhausted Kallio analysed. 

 Up to the very last laps, Kallio was riding in a tight group, fighting each other of positions 6-10. Before the last corner Kallio was placed 9th, but he was able to rise to 8th position just before the finish line, by overtaking Julian Simon. 

 -The fight was very intense up to the last seconds of the race and there were a lot of consecutive overtakes in the group I was riding in. I finally managed to pass Simon during the final moments of the race and I am glad, because every point counts, Kallio continued. 

 -We are now on position eight on the total points and it is not something I was expecting before the season, but luckily the points distribution is very even at the time and there is not panic yet, Kallio ensured. 

 The next GP of the Moto2-season of 2015 will take place in Argentina, at the circuit of Termas de Rio Hondo, already the upcoming weekend 17-19th April. Kallio is already looking forward to the race. 

 -We learnt a lot in Texas and we know now where we did the miscalculations concerning the settings. I really hope that we are able to perform our practice program with consistency and are able to find a way with the bike. I like the track and we have all the potential to succeed, as long as we face no further worries with the bike settings, Kallio finished. 

« Back