Kallio bewildered at 15th place in Brno GP: Track differences cause huge drop on bike performance

Mika Kallio’s weekend in Brno, Czech Republic, did not go as planned. After a promising weekend at Indianapolis, USA, Kallio was on a great mood upon his arrival to Brno. Unfortunately the free practices and qualifying sessions preceding the race demonstrated a massive drop of pace and Kallio and his team were yet again faced with the familiar issue of lost front tyre feel. The Czech GP was won by Johann Zarco and Kallio’s race result was position 15, which left the rider immensely disappointed. 

-I have nothing special to say about this race. I am frustrated, since we have been banging our heads to the wall nearly throughout the whole season for this continuous issue. I have always quite liked the track of Brno and acquired good results here, so that makes our current situation even more depressing. Race position 15 was an expected one, given our hardships this weekend. I gave all I had and this was the best result we could manage, Kallio commented. 

-It annoys the living daylight out of me, that just one week ago in Indy we were fighting for the win with the top guys. Our pace was there and riding felt good. This was all courtesy to the naturally slippery track of Indianapolis, which caused grip issues to all riders. I have been riding without grip for the whole season, so this was my place to shine. Unfortunately this advantage was lost when we returned to a race track with a different surface. For sure the pace is there, I cannot have lost all my riding abilities in a week. I just wish there would be something we could do about the front tyre grip, Kallio continued. 

Kallio’s race went in accordance with his strategy. He managed a good start, which enabled a rise of several positions during the first laps.

-The start was pretty ok and I am satisfied with the first half of the race. After that the last remaining grip started to disappear from the tyres and I fell down a few positions. I rode in the group that was fighting to make it to the top ten, sharing the pace with Lowes and Marquez. In the end they were seven seconds short of Zarco, but I dropped back with a 19 second gap. During the last ten laps I lost a whole ten seconds, which is an impossibly huge drop of pace, Kallio cursed. 

 

The season of 2015 has been the roughest of Kallio’s career. Reaching the title of vice world champion last year offers no consolation at the moment. The rider agreements for next year are being signed and Kallio longs for better results to help with the ongoing negotiations. 

 

 

-This is the time of the season, when everyone has their eyes on the results list. Nothing you did last year counts, the good positions should be won now. I still look forward to returning to the MotoGP-class. For sure I am interested in riding in Moto2 as well, but I hope for a change in the tyres to be able to chase competitive results again. We need to make a decision during the upcoming month, so let’s see where we end up, Kallio pondered. 

 

-I know for a fact, that I have an excellent pace when I work well together with the bike. This season has been tough, but next year will be better. In the MotoGP class the benefits of vast experience are highlighted and I hope for chance to show off what I’ve got. Unfortunately the current trend is to pick younger and younger riders each year, with minimal or no experience at all of the bigger bikes. Funnily enough, if you look at the result list, it is anyhow the old and experienced guys who top the charts. I hope to join them next year and use my strengths to make good results, Kallio finished.

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