Repsol KTM 250 rider Julian Simon battled his way to fourth place in Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix on the Motegi circuit and celebrated his best result so far aboard his KTM FRR 250.
But while Simon enjoyed an almost flawless and trouble-free weekend, Red Bull KTM riders Hiroshi Aoyama and Mika Kallio had their hopes of a podium double dashed on the circuit where both of them have won in the past. Both ran into unexpected problems during the race.
Front runner Simon Simon, the 20-year old Spaniard started from seventh place on the grid and caught up with the front runners on the opening lap. He swept into third spot on the second and into second spot on the third lap, a position that he bravely defended for more than half of the 23-lap distance. Simon refused to flinch when fellow Spaniards Alvaro Bautista and Alex Debon moved ahead and only sacrificed his chances of a podium finish when he tried to attack Debon on the last lap and made a small mistake.
Fifth for Kallio on difficult race day Red Bull KTM's Finnish maestro Mika Kallio hung onto his title hopes with a fifth place. Determined to pull all strings for a maximum point score on the Motegi circuit that has served him so well in other seasons, Kallio fought with bad front wheel chatter throughout the race, a problem that had never occurred in the practice runs.
Grip problems for 2-times Motegi conqueror Aoyama It was also a tough race day for the Red Bull KTM rider Hiroshi Aoyama on his home circuit. He started well from his front row grid position and held third and fourth place in the opening laps of the race. He soon experienced difficulties when the grip level of his rear tyre dropped dramatically after only a short distance. The two-times winner of the Motegi Grand Prix fought on bravely managing to bring his bike home in a safe yet disappointing ninth position.
Julian Simon (Repsol KTM 250 - 4th):
"It was a good and complete weekend for me and our team. We managed to be up with the front runners in all the practice sessions and we were even higher up for most of the race. I rode as hard as I could and never lost hope of scoring my first podium finish with KTM in this category. I tried to attack Alex Debon on the last lap and it was only then that I lost contact when I made a small mistake and had to settle for fourth. Now I'm looking forward to the remaining races of this year, especially my home Grand Prix at Valencia at the end of the season. We are in good shape and I'm confident that from now on we will be able to fight for top finishes wherever we go!"
Mika Kallio (Red Bull KTM 250 - 5th):
"We improved our bike steadily in the practice sessions and it felt quite ok in this morning's warm-up. But in the race, I almost immediately noticed a strong front end chatter that affected the grip level of the bike, and my confidence, too. I pushed as hard as I could anyway, but with this chatter, I couldn't achieve a better result than I did. We have to have a good look at our computer data and analyse what happened, because I never had this problem before on this track. It is really strange. Now we are 50 points behind in the championship, and things look increasingly difficult - but we won't give up and we'll fight until the end!"
Hiroshi Aoyama (Red Bull KTM 250 - 9th):
"This was not the result we expected in this race. I had a good feeling with the bike in practice, and even this morning in the warm-up session. But something changed in the race and I was a full second off my pace. Now the team will have to check what happened exactly. I can only say that I am very disappointed!"
Harald Bartol (Technical Director):
"Congratulations to Julian who definitely rode his strongest race of the year and who had a perfect set-up in practice and in the race. So far, we can't explain the problems Mika and Hiro ran into. Mika had a strong front end chatter that never had occurred in practice, and Hiro's rear tyre was completely finished after only a few laps. It's disappointing, but we are determined to analyse these problems and to prevent them from coming back!"
Race Results:
1. Marco Simoncelli, Italy, Gilera, 43:09.385
2. Alvaro Bautista, Spain, Aprilia 43:09.733
3. Alex Debon, Spain, Aprilia, 43:17.799
4. Julian Simon, Spain, Repsol KTM 250, 43:18.536
5. Mika Kallio, Finland, Red Bull KTM, 43:26.426
9. Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, Red Bull KTM, 43:31.688
Championship standing (after 14 of 17 races - except cancellation at Indianapolis):
1. Marco Simoncelli, Italy, Gilera 215 points
2. Alvaro Bautista, Spain, Aprilia 183
3. Mika Kallio, Finland, Red Bull KTM, 175
4. Alex Debon, Spain, Aprilia, 155
5. Hector Barbera, Spain, 142
Other KTM 8. Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, Red Bull KTM, 108
9. Julian Simon, Spain, Repsol KTM 250, 96
Photographer: Kirn F.
