KTM Factory Racing’s maiden Grand Prix ended in disappointment after an electrical issue forced Mika Kallio to park up on lap 20.
The Grand Prix of Valencia was always billed as an extended test session for the RC-16, though Kallio was confident of a strong showing. However, Friday didn’t begin the way they had hoped. Issues with rear grip hindered the Finnish rider, and he ended the day a disappointing three seconds off the pace. Saturday saw some improvement, and Kallio had reduced the deficit to 2.5 seconds in FP3.
Qualifying a respectable 20th, ahead of a Honda and a Ducati GP14.2, things looked promising for the race. Kallio got off the line well and was dicing with the riders around him at the tail-end of the field. The Finn was also able to study some of the other bikes, pinpointing areas where the RC-16 could improve and where they were strong relative to their competitors.
His afternoon went awry six laps into the race when a faulty sensor caused an electrical issue. Kallio noticed a lack power, then issues with traction. He pulled into pit lane with 10 laps to go, and though KTM tried to rectify the problem, they eventually decided to retire the Finn.
Though disappointed to not get to the finish in his first MotoGP outing since Australia 2010, Kallio was still pleased with how the afternoon went prior to his technical woes as the bike was working well.
“Basically the start was more or less okay then I tried to choose a good line in the opening few corners and I think I gained a few positions. I was where I expected to be and I was fighting with the other guys in my group, he said.
“I managed to stay on course in the first laps and this was positive, and I could also see the difference between my bike and the others – where we are okay and where we need to improve. After six laps I felt something happened on the bike going into the corner. I opened the throttle, the power went down and there was no acceleration. It seems there was a sensor problem and this affected the electronics and the controls.
“The rear tire started to spin and the grip went down fast, so riding became more complicated and the other riders started to pull away. It was a shame because it would have been good to see what we could have done. Anyway up to the point we had the problems the feeling was good. I’m just disappointed we didn’t finish the race.”
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