Superb recovery gives Kallio seventh, Espargaró takes 15th

Mika Kallio took an excellent seventh place in the second round of the MotoGP World Championship despite a difficult qualifying on Saturday that saw him start the race from 17th on the grid. It was an amazing comeback which started at Turn 1and one that was full of overtaking, as he fought for seventh place with Simoncelli, De Puniet and Melandri.

Aleix Espargaró, unable to get a good start, immediately tried to recover positions. Unfortunately his race was compromised on the fourth lap when, after a fall that damaged his brake lever, he returned to the pits to check the damage. He returned to the track after a while, but the gap to the drivers ahead of him was too large to recover. Espargaró still completed the race running on a good pace with the 12th fastest lap of the race.

Mika Kallio - Pramac Racing – 7th

"It's been one of my best races since I became a MotoGP rider. I had a great start which made me not lose touch with the group of the best riders: I recovered the gap from the first lap and I was able to take four places. Lap after lap I saw that the changes made on my motorbike were good enough to let me have the best times. I enjoyed the fight with Simoncelli, Melandri and De Puniet a lot. I then leapfrogged the drivers ahead of me and in the last four laps I took and was able to keep seventh position. I am very happy with the result for the team and the technicians who have always supported me throughout this weekend.”

Aleix Espargaró - Pramac Racing – 15th

"Unfortunately this was not the race that I had hoped for, I really wanted to get a good result on this circuit, the first Spanish stage of the year. I had a little grip problem at the start and I found myself in last place after the first corner, then when I was recovering some positions I fell during the fourth lap and damaged the brake lever. I went back out on track but then I returned again to the pit to make further changes. I now have my first point of this season, which is not so much, but I hope to get a better result in the next Grand Prix.”

Press release courtesy of Pramac Racing