Kallio enjoys first experience of factory bike

Standing in for the unavailable Casey Stoner in the Marlboro Ducati team for three races, due to the Australian’s ongoing illness, the opening day of the Cardion ab Czech Republic Grand Prix was a big occasion for Mika Kallio, but the steady Finn took it all in his stride as he lapped seventh best overall in FP1.

Summarising the day Kallio commented, “Actually everything went quite well. We finished in the top ten and that was really good for me, because throughout this year we have always had little problems on Fridays, but this time things went smoothly and I was seventh. It was important because I was nervous before I went out.”

Asked about how factory Desmosedici bike differs from his regular Pramac satellite Ducati the MotoGP rookie replied, “There does not seem to be any big difference and that is why it was quite easy for me to jump into Casey’s seat. Maybe there are some small things but nothing big and it was ok. I like the team and I knew them before so there was no problem there. Now I have three races to see what we can do and I need to show my talent for sure.”

On whether there were big changes to make ahead of Saturday and whether he had enjoyed his first day on the factory bike, Kallio stated, “We had some small problems, mainly with left hand side grip so we need to find some solutions for this. Of course I was scared for the first few laps but I liked it and now I just need to concentrate.”