Aoyama beats the heat and celebrates second for KTM in Malaysia
Red Bull KTM rider Hiroshi Aoyama beat tropical heat with air temperatures up to 41 degrees and rising water temperatures on his KTM 250 FRR and battled his way to second place in Sunday's 250 cc Malaysian Grand Prix.
Aoyama's strong performance was a tribute to his skill and professional approach to racing after only just learning that KTM would not be contesting the 250 cc category in future seasons. Hiroshi drew praise from his team's technical director Harald Bartol, who described his ride as "fantastic". The 26-year-old from Chiba, Japan, who won last year's race at Sepang, stormed into the lead on the seventh lap and defended his top spot for three laps before Spaniard Alvaro Bautista swept past. Aoyama hung onto Bautista and only lost contact to the eventual race winner when he ran into increasing front tyre grip problems towards the end of the race.
No luck for Kallio and Julian Simon Aoyama's Red Bulll KTM teammate Mika Kallio and Spanish Repsol KTM rider Julian Simon weren't so lucky. Kallio had a strong start and even lead the field into the first corner, but then noticed a clutch problem and dropped back to fourth, fifth and sixth position. The 25-year-old Finn had just found a way to ride around the problem and gained speed again when his engine seized on the back straight. Julian Simon also led the race on the third lap and looked set for a podium finish when he too was sidelined with a similar problem just after mid-race. "That's racing," said the Spaniard. "Now we will give it all again to end the season on a high note at my home Grand Prix in Valencia next week."
Hiroshi Aoyama (Red Bull KTM 250 - second):
"This was very tough race. It was difficult to manage engine power and tyre grip in the tropical heat and I'm very happy that I got through this battle with a strong result. My start was not so bad, but then I had a little scare with the front tyre and dropped back a few positions. But I managed to recover and to take first position for a while. Then I had a great battle with Alvaro when we both pushed to the maximum. It was exciting and fun to ride, but also exhausting. It was only on the last five laps, I lost a little bit of speed because my front tyre started to lose grip, so I couldn't challenge Bautista any more and had to settle for second. But all in all, we had a very good weekend. It's unfortunate that we won't be able to continue our KTM campaign in the 250 cc class next year, but I have many good memories of great races, good fights and remarkable technical progress that we've made over the three years that we've been working together. I want to thank KT M, all of my mechanics and all the sponsors for a great experience, and I hope we will have another reason to celebrate at the final showdown in Valencia!"
Mika Kallio (Red Bull KTM 250 - did not finish):
"My start was good, but in the first corner, I immediately noticed that my clutch was broken. I lost a few places and it was difficult to get up to speed again, especially in the braking zones when the problem was the most obvious. I slowly found ways to ride around the problem and do competitive lap times again. My confidence returned and I thought a good result was still within reach. But then I noticed something strange happening in the engine on the back straight, and when I braked for the following corner, the engine seized. We think a bearing might have broken, and some small piece ended up in the piston and caused the failure. Now second place in the championship is out of reach. Our goal is now to secure third position with a good result at Valencia!"
Harald Bartol (Technical Director):
"Hiroshi rode a fantastic race and showed his true skills and a lot of determination today. It could have been a great day for all three KTM 250 riders, but unfortunately, the bikes of Kallio and Simon both seized. We think it was the same problem on both engines, with some foreign object that got caught in the wrong place, but obviously we won't know exactly before opening the engines and thoroughly examining what happened!"
Results 250 cc: 1. Alvaro Bautista, Spain, Aprilia, 42:56.428
2. Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, Red Bull KTM 250, 42:59.014
3. Marco Simoncelli, Italy, Gilera, 43:04.771
4. Yuki Takahashi, Japan, Honda, 43:07.460
5. Alex Espargaro, Spain, Aprilia, 43:10.274
DNF
Julian Simon, Repsol KTM 250 cc
Mika Kallio, Finland, Red Bull KTM 250
Championship standings (Penultimate race): 1. Marco Simoncelli, Italy, Gilera, 256
2. Alvaro Bautista, Spain, Aprilia, 228
3. Mika Kallio, Finland, Red Bull KTM 250, 191
4. Alex Debon, Spain, Aprilia, 176
5. Yuki Takahashi, Japan, Honda, 147
7. Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, Red Bull KTM 250, 128
9. Julian Simon, Repsol KTM 250 cc, 109
Koyama best 125 cc KTM rider at Malaysian GP Japanese rider Tomoyoshi Koyama returned to ride for the Red Bull KTM factory team on Sunday at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia and was the fastest KTM in the 125 cc class, finishing in the points at eleventh place despite an overheating engine.
As well as the challenging circuit, riders battled hot temperatures at the tropical venue. ISPA KTM Aran rider Lorenzo Zanetti took thirteenth place ahead of Spanish Onde 2000 KTM rider Pablo Nieto. German GP rookie Jonas Folger, a wild card entry at Malaysia, fought it out with Swiss teenager Randy Krummenacher and finished a creditable seventeenth. Red Bull KTM rider Krummenacher battled engine vibrations and a lack of tyre grip to finish nineteenth. the talented teenager Repsol KTM 125cc rider Marc Marquez did not contest the race in Malaysia after he injured his leg in a race incident during practice on Friday. He sustained no fractures but flew home to Spain for further checks and to increase the opportunity that he will be available to race in the season's finale in Valencia.
Tomoyoshi Koyama (Red Bull KTM 125 - eleventh):
"The water temperature in my engine rose to 70 degrees. I tried everything to avoid the slipstream of other riders so that I could keep the temperature outside the danger zone. Considering this problem, I am quite happy with the race and the result we've got. Towards the end, I had a great battle with Iannone and if my front hadn't closed on the last corner, I would have caught him and taken tenth position!"
Randy Krummenacher (Red Bull KTM 125 - nineteenth):
"My engine was vibrating badly, as it did in practice yesterday, and after about five laps, my fingers went numb and it was very difficult to control front brake and accelerator. My bike was also moving a lot through the corner combinations, and I was missing grip on front and rear. It wasn't a good day!"
Harald Bartol (Technical Director):
"Koyama made a solid comeback In the 125 cc class. I think he could have been even higher up if he had pulled out all stops. As far as Krummenacher's vibration problem goes, it is an unsolved mystery - we've changed everything imaginable in the engine, but the problem persisted."
125 cc Results GP Malaysia, 19 laps:
1. Gabor Talmacsi, Hungary, Aprilia, 43:00.716
2. Bradley Smith, Britain, Aprilia, 43:04.132
3. Simone Corsi, Italy, Aprilia, 43:07.612
4. Sandro Cortese, Germany, Aprilia, 43:07.641
5. Mike de Meglio, France, Derbi, 43:07.831
Other KTM: 11. Tomoyoshi Koyama, Red Bull KTM, 43:24.367
13. Lorenzo Zanetti, Italy, ISPA KTM Aran, 43:41.218
14. Pablo Nieto, Spain, Onde 2000 KTM, 43:52.120
17. Jonas Folger, Germany, Red Bull MotoGP Academy, 44:07.856
19. Randy Krummenacher, Switzerland, Red Bull KTM, 44:08.457
DNF
Esteve Rabat, Repsol KTM 125cc
Raffaele De Rosa, Italy, Onde 2000 KTM
Enrique Jerez, Spain, ISPA KTM Aran
Championship standings (penultimate race):
1. Mike de Meglio, France, Derbi, 248
2. Gabor Talmacsi, Hungary, Aprilia, 206
3. Simone Corsi, Italy, Aprilia, 200
4. Stefan Bradl, Germany, 187
5. Nicolas Terol, Spain, 156
Other KTM: 13. Marc Marquez, Spain, 63
16. Esteve Rabat, Spain, 43
17. Raffaele De Rosa, Italy, 37
19. Tomoyoshi Koyama, Red Bull KTM, 32
22. Pablo Nieto, Spain, Onde 2000 KTM, 18
23. Lorenzo Zanetti, Italy, 17
25. Randy Krummenacher, Switzerland, Red Bull KTM, 10
32. Jonas Folger, Germany, Red Bull MotoGP Academy, 1
