Saturday, April 26, 2014

Marc VDS Racing Team Review Argentina Moto2 Day 1

Marc VDS Racing Team riders Tito Rabat and Mika Kallio finished inside the top 10 at the end of an opening day of practice spent searching for grip on a dirty and slippery surface at the fast and flowing new Circuito Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina.

World Championship leader Rabat was sixth fastest, the Spaniard dedicating his entire time on track in overcast conditions to improving grip and tyre endurance with his Kalex machine.

A lap of 1.45.394 was just over 0.3s away from the quickest pace, with the top 20 riders split by less than a second in a typically fierce Moto2 battle.

Mika Kallio eventually enjoyed a positive start to a milestone weekend in his Grand Prix career. The Finn was 33rd in FP1 but major set-up modifications rocketed him back into the top 10 ahead of what is scheduled to be his 200th start, making him the first Finnish rider to reach the landmark.

Tito Rabat // 6th //1’45.394
“Today was very difficult and we had many problems with grip because the track is very dirty, especially this morning when it was very bad. In the afternoon the track improved a lot and I could go almost 1.6s faster but I still need to improve the setting of the bike tomorrow to get more grip. This morning we had problems with the rear and in FP2 it was more the front causing me some trouble, so we have to work to find a good balance.”

Mika Kallio // 9th //1’45.419
“This morning was a complete disaster and a horrible start to the weekend. The rear linkage I prefer is different to what most of the other riders use, and we know it doesn’t work at some tracks when the grip is low. We decided to start with the same package I raced in Qatar and Austin but we saw immediately I was so slow and I destroyed the tyres in the first three laps. We changed the linkage and immediately in FP2 the bike felt completely different and I was much faster. I am happy with the feeling now and it is good to be back in the top 10. The challenge now is to adapt the bike to work as the track gets cleaner and more grip is on the surface.”

Marc VDS Racing Team Press Release

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