Red Bull KTM 250 star Mika Kallio fought against wet conditions in the German Grand Prix to finish in fourth place while Julian Simon of the Repsol KTM 250 team put in his best race result since joining the KTM line-up on the grid.
Kallio, the 25-year-old Finn held onto second place for 12 laps but was forced to let some of the opposition overtake when heavy rain started to fall. Instead he adjusted his calculating style of riding to suit the prevailing difficult conditions and still achieved the best possible result. Kallio, who had held the lead in the world championship standings, is now in second place, eleven points behind Sunday's winner Marco Simoncelli.
Simon also enjoyed a great day despite trying conditions. The Spaniard catapulted himself from his second place on the grid, maintained his position in the front group and finished fifth. Last year's winner Hiroshi Aoyama was not so lucky. Kallio's Red Bull KTM team-mate crashed when he was in fifth place but quickly rejoined the race and managed to finish in eighth position.
Despite the rain, the German GP was made more colourful with the enthusiastic support of 1500 dedicated fans of the orange machines made in Austria in the special KTM stand who went all out to support the KTM riders.
Mika Kallio (Red Bull KTM 250 - fourth)
"We were quite ok in the dry conditions because everything ran rather well. But as we had already established, the wet race conditions were not really the best for us. We had expected a bit more than this fourth place but we already noticed in the morning warm-up that something was missing. I just didn't have the right feel fro the bike and we were missing a bit of grip with the tyres. We made a few changes on the set-up for the race, which made my job a little easier. I didn't get away that well at the start and I lost a couple of positions. But I got into the rhythm after five or six laps and I was in second for quite a while but then it started to rain quite heavily. There was water on the circuit in some places and it looked like Aprilia had a slight advantage on us in these conditions. I put on as much pressure as I could but Barbera and Bautista still overtook me. I just didn't have a chance to stick with them. I was a bit surprised at how fast Aprilia was. Now we a re in second in the standings and the only thing left for us is to work harder and get back on top!"
Julian Simon (Repsol KTM 250 - fifth)
"I am very happy, not just about the race today but also with how the weekend went in general. My team and I worked very well and efficiently and we got the maximum out of it all. We have to continue this kind of work for the coming races because I'm convinced that we can be up with the best for the rest of the races this season. About the race today I would have likes to hang onto Bautista and Barbera and fought for a podium place but they were just a fraction faster that we were. But I'm still satisfied, also because my arm, which has been giving me problems in many of the earlier races, was really ok today!"
Hiroshi Aoyama (Red Bull KTM 250 - eighth)
"It was a difficult race. I had quite a good rhythm but right from my start position in the third row I didn't have too many possibilities. Nevertheless I was able to make good a few places and move up to the second group. Then I applied a bit too much pressure. I went over the limit and then I was on the ground. Luckily I was able to get back in the race and finish. It was certainly no perfect day but better than nothing. I didn't get injured and I hope that we can be better in Brno. We've already tested there and that should help us."
Harald Bartol (Technical Director)
"After the disaster of last week with Mika's big crash while we were testing, we got away rather mildly in this race. I certainly don't blame him that he was a bit more careful in the race today. Julian had his best race so far, even when he did hold up Mika a couple of times. But that's what racing is all about and every rider has his own share of ambition!"
Results:
1. Marco Simoncelli, Italy, Gilera, 45:36.703
2. Hector Barbera, Spain, Aprilia, 45:38.960
3. Alvaro Bautista, Spain, Aprilia, 45:39.126
4. Mika Kallio, Finland, Red Bull KTM 250, KTM, 45:40.853
5. Julian Simon, Spain, Repsol KTM 250cc, KTM, 45:41.549
Other KTM:
8. Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, Red Bull KTM 250, KTM, 46:25.629
Championship Standings :
1. Marco Simoncelli, Italy, 164
2. Mika Kallio, Finland, Red Bull KTM 250, 153
3. Alvaro Bautista, Spain, 118
4. Alex Debon, Spain, 114
5. Hector Barbera, Spain, 113
Other KTM:
7. Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, Red Bull KTM 250, 98
10. Julian Simon, Spain, Repsol KTM 250cc, 68
Images Courtesy of Kirn F.
