Red Bull KTM 250 star Mika Kallio topped the time sheets for most of the final 250 cc session. But he narrowly missed the pole when three fast competitors overtook to leave him on the front row in fourth place for Sunday's 250 cc Grand Prix of Italy.
Kallio's team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama crashed early on in the session and had to continue with his spare bike, but is nevertheless confident for the race after finishing in tenth position.
Mika Kallio (Red Bull KTM 250 - Fourth in 1:53.635)
"My plan was to immediately push for a good time right from my first exit, and this worked out perfectly. I was on top of the list for a long time. But it turned out to be too difficult to get pole position because Aprilia is obviously very fast and experienced on this track. They started with a good set-up when we were still struggling, but considering the weather and track conditions, we caught up rather quickly. Barbera's lap time is unbelievable, but the others aren't that far ahead of us, so I still think we can get a good result if I can hang on to the front group from the beginning. The first five laps will be crucial - if I can go at the same pace as the fastest guys on these opening laps, the rest of the race should be much easier!"
Hiroshi Aoyama (Repsol KTM 250 - Tenth in 1:54.516)
"I had quite a good feeling for the bike and started the session with so much confidence that I opened the throttle too hard and crashed! Unfortunately the bike suffered a lot of damage so I had to continue with the second bike, which carried different engine specs and didn't quite have the performance of my number one bike. I could have gone faster in the end and I thought I was lucky to get into Tom Lüthi's slipstream, but he slowed me down rather than pulling me along. The race tomorrow should be good - as I said, I had a really good feeling with my number one bike which will be back in working order for tomorrow!"
Harald Bartol (Technical Director)
We will push ahead with further development steps on our 250 bike, because our good results and Mika's position in the world championship are no reason to rest. Aprilia has been in this category for 20 years, and our project is just three years old, so we have to make many development steps in the shortest possible time. The race is going to be close and exciting - even Barbera wouldn't have been as fast if he hadn't been in Mika's slipstream when it counted!"
Images by Kirn F.
