Jerez GP an expected catastrophe for Kallio

Mika Kallio was not a happy man after the Jerez Grand Prix of 2015. The winner of last year’s race retired from the back of the squad a few laps before the finish line. Kallio had a good start and was able to fight himself up a few positions from start grid position 18, but he faced such severe issues with the bike’s set-up that he was forced to end his race ahead of time.

-We made a few drastic changes to the bike just before the race, but they went to the wrong direction and riding was extremely difficult. The whole weekend has gone terribly wrong and we are more lost with the bike than ever. It is really frustrating, since I dominated on this track last year and now I have absolutely no chance, an exasperated Kallio sighed.

-When I finally found myself outside the top 20, I decided to come in, for the safety of myself and others on track. I did not trust the bike at all and thought it was not worth risking it any longer since no points were on the table to fight for The first 15 guys get points and I was too far away already. The first three tracks of the race season are a bit tricky and experience helps a lot when fighting for good positions in the race. The track of Jerez is the most familiar track for all riders and a majority of all tests take place here. Therefore every single rider knows the track by heart and my advantage melted away. Now that everyone was on the same level to start for the race, you can see what happened. My lap times were miles away from the lead group and my own times from last year. I am sure this showed the whole team that we have a serious problem and have now officially reached the bottom with all the struggles of the season. I am so angry and disappointed it kills me, since last year I topped the timesheet every single day and no-one could match my speed. This is really sad, Kallio concluded.

The disastrous result of the Jerez race opened up once again the discussion on what to do with the new troublesome chassis. Kallio and his team decided previously to continue developing the 2015 bike, but the rider himself still longs for the 2014 bike. Tests are upcoming in Aragon next week and the team needs to reconsider their options for the following race weekends.

-We continue testing next week and the old bike vs. new bike -discussion will be on the table for sure. We have some new parts arriving, let’s see if they help. We need to get our thing together fast, since this is not our level, Kallio finished.

Results of the Moto2-race of Jerez, Spain

1. Jonas Folger 45.01,873

2. Johann Zarco + 1,931

3. Tito Rabat + 2,222

4. Thomas Luthi + 6.833

5. Xavier Simeon + 11,086

World Championship classification, after GP 4/18

1. Johann Zarco 73

2. Jonas Folger 57

3. Alex Rins 49

4. Thomas Luthi 43

5. Franco Morbidelli 43