Kallio’s qualifying result milliseconds away from set goal

Mika Kallio’s Saturday afternoon in Sachsenring was wrapped up with qualifying position 10, just milliseconds away from the desired third row. The rider was not happy, as he knew better results could have been achieved with his current pace. 

-I am disappointed for missing the third start row, as it was so close, again. I aimed higher, but did not reach the minimum goal set by myself and the team. I have qualified tenth several times this season already, but for some reason it is hard to reach the top three rows. 

Kallio’s pace improved from Friday, but this was not enough for making it to the pole. 

-This was the best we could do today. Our pace is ok, but not enough to reach the ultimate top. In qualifying every rider and bike is taken to the limit and even though it is typical to go beyond your limits, I was not able to push that far today, since I don’t have enough trust for the bike. Our maximum pace took us to tenth position today and it’s not a bad result, as the time differences on this track are so tiny. Even though we were first in the FP2, my immediate comment was that the feeling is still not there and this proved right today, Kallio elaborated.

Even though the qualifying practice did not go as planned, Kallio is confident, that Sunday will be his day once again. 

-I know that not all riders who are fast in qualifying can keep up the pace in the race, so I am not concerned of our possibilities for making a good result. Our pace is typically well maintained for longer distances, so this gives me an advantage for Sunday, Kallio continued 

On the short track of Sachsenring, it is important to get a good start in order to join the group fighting for podium results.

-I need to nail the start, because otherwise it is easy to get stuck in traffic, while the front guys speed away. The seven first corners are the places to attack and then it becomes more complicated if there is no luck in the beginning. We don’t know yet which tyres to choose for the race, so we’ll check out the weather tomorrow and make our decision based on that. Despite my complaints, the bike is at it’s best shape so far this season, so let’s see where we end up on the result list, Kallio finished with a smile.

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