Kallio improved his pace during free practices

The free practice sessions of the GP of Barcelona took place on Friday on the sunny track of Circuit de Catalunya. Mika Kallio was able to quicken his pace during the second set of the day, ending up on position 15, a 0,7 seconds behind the fastest man of the day, Johann Zarco. The first practice, which saw Kallio on place 23 with a 1,5 seconds gap, was not a success and Kallio himself was not at all satisfied with the day. 

 -My time really needed some improvement, because the first ride of this morning was a lousy performance and even though my pace quickened towards the afternoon, the entity really did not work out at all. We used the best setting combination we worked with in Aragon, but it was not of much help here. It seems that the front grip issue is here to stay and there is very little we are able to do about it, Kallio sighed

-In the afternoon we applied the settings used last year, and even though they worked way better, there is not much to be glad about. Naturally I appreciate progress, but these are baby steps and we are anyhow really far away from our true competence levels. It strains me that we are running out of things to try, Kallio continued. 

 -Dunlop altered the tyre composition for this year and it might be that the issues are based on the new tyres not fitting my riding style. Actually the only thing we haven’t changed are the tyres, but since we cannot touch them, I suspect we are in trouble. If this is the case, the scenario is not something I am positive about. I have been traditionally strong in braking points and entries to corners, but now I am not able to use these strengths at all, Kallio analysed. 

 The rider is not willing to speculate with the possible outcomes of the upcoming qualifying practice, but one physical spark of hope is arriving to Barcelona on Saturday morning. Öhlins will deliver an upgraded front fork for Kallio’s use. This fork has not been tested before, so the part is brand new for everyone.

 -The fight for the top positions is brutal and it is typical to have twenty riders within one second of each other in the charts. It is hard to squeeze in to the front rows without a major improvement of some sort. We will anyhow do our best and let’s see if the new part helps us. I hope that we would find progress already during the free practice next morning, so I would be more confident in qualifying, Kallio finished.

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