Agencies/Aragon, Spain


QMMF Racing Team’s new arrival Mika Kallio made a strong debut at the Aragon Grand Prix, pushing his Speed Up bike to an impressive eleventh place. In a race that was re-started and shortened to 14 laps after an accident, he first struggled and dropped back to 15th place, but made a great recovery in the second half and missed out on a Top Ten finish by less than half a second.
His Spanish team-mate Julian Simon could not complete the race after crashing out in lap five.
“If we could have been stronger during the first laps, we could have been in the top ten, which was my goal. That’s why I’m not 100 per cent satisfied. But the weekend went without any mistakes and we need to remember that everything was new for me and also for the team that didn’t know exactly how I like the set-up of the bike and what I need to push to the limit,” Kallio said.
“We already have some ideas of what we can do in Japan and I’m sure we can improve. I want to say thanks to the team, they did a good job and all in all it was a very positive weekend,” he added.
Simon started with great ambitions in front of his home crowd, but crashed out just after passing another rider. He is now hoping for better luck at the next race in Japan.
“It was a difficult weekend and a difficult race. I crashed in turn eight, the chicane, and I am sorry for the team because they put a lot of effort into the set-up of the bike this weekend but were not rewarded. It’s a pity, but now we have to think about Motegi and how we can be in good shape for the final races of this season,” Simon said.