Mika Kallio’s preparations for the season’s ninth GP in Germany are going on at full speed at the legendary paddock of Sachsenring. The Finn’s weekend preceding the German GP was spent in Italy, as a guest of his leather suit manufacturer Ixon. Kallio and fellow pilot Yonny Hernandez paid visits to the most legendary motostores of Italy and met eager fans along the way. Kallio is now ready to take on the challenge in Germany and he plans his strategies happily for his favourite race of the season.
-The Sachsenring GP has always been my nr. 1 favourite of all the races in our Moto2-calendar. Last year we had an excellent pace here and a strong weekend all in all, though this year everything has been a bit tricky. We never know what to really expect from a race weekend, but I believe that if I can be strong somewhere this year, this is the place, Kallio stated.
Kallio’s preparations for the GP follow a common routine. Upon arrival to the paddock, he gears up and begins negotiations with his team concerning the weekends race strategy.
-I have my riding gear go through maintenance before every weekend. First, I take the helmet to the manufacturer’s service workshop, and then I check and clean the rest of the gear myself. We also have planning meetings with the team, where we agree on which tyre tactics to use, what settings to implement on the bike and walk through the strategy of the weekend, Kallio explained.
Kallio has been through tough times this season, but he feels a bit better now with his bike. Nevertheless, the top pace is not there and the rider and his team are planning on yet another big change for the bike’s settings.
-We will experiment with my riding position this time. The change concerns a length of a mere 5-10millimetres, but in fact the effect is huge. I will be positioned to ride a bit higher than usual, which affects the force of weight transfer on the bike. This is done to maximize grip on the front wheel in braking points and grip for the rear wheel while accelerating. I also hope this helps for the familiar issue of worn out tyres, Kallio continued.
Right from the season start Kallio noticed that the tyre composition had been altered somehow and this weekend his feeling was confirmed, as the team was presented with two mismatching constructions of split tyres. The tyre manufacturer had denied any modifications up until now, but now when the changes are up in the open, Kallio and his team are able to deal with the facts and start working around the problem.
-We received the information of tyre alteration just this weekend and since I have been struggling with them for a while, this explains a lot. Now we can focus on dealing with this and stop wasting time on unnecessary setting variations, Kallio finished.
Latest News
- 13.11.2016 Electrical issue ruins Kallios historical race - happy weekend ends in bitter disappointment
- 12.11.2016 What a Saturday for Kallio - great progress and a baby girl!
- 11.11.2016 Kallio got excited about his comeback - poor result didnt spoil mood
- 09.11.2016 Kallios huge weekend - historical MotoGP race and new baby coming
- 10.06.2016 Test success in Jerez: Kallio sheds some awaited light to KTM test progress