KALLIO AND REDDING RARING TO GO IN QATAR! Gosselies, Belgium – 3 April 2012: The Marc VDS Racing Team’s Mika Kallio and Scott Redding head to the Middle East looking for a strong start to the season, as the 2012 Moto2 World Championship gets underway this weekend at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. Kallio goes into the season opener in a confident mood, after showing strongly during preseason testing. The Finnish rider worked methodically during the winter to adapt to the Kalex Moto2 machine, which he will campaign for this first time this season. Kallio’s hard work paid dividends in Jerez last month, with the Marc VDS rider posting the fourth fastest time during the final Moto2 test. Redding also heads into the new season with renewed confidence. The 19-year-old British rider struggled with the 2011 Suter chassis last year, but he has no such issues with the Kalex Moto2 machine he’ll race this season. Redding topped the timesheets regularly during preseason testing and he travels to Qatar determined to carry this momentum into the first race of the new season. The Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar is unique in that it is the only race on the GP calendar to be held at night. The 5.380km / 3.434 mile Losail track is illuminated by 3,600 light fixtures burning a massive 5.4 million watts of power, creating enough light to cover an area equivalent to 70 football pitches. Scott Redding #45: “I’ve been thinking about Qatar since the Valencia race last year! Preseason testing went well, but testing isn’t racing, and I can’t wait to get back out there and battling this weekend. I want to start the season on a high, which for me would be a top five or top six finish this weekend. Last year we had a DNF in the first race, which did us no favours, and we can’t afford the same this time around. In the past I’ve gone flat out from the first second of the first session, but this year I’ll be taking it a bit easier, building up the speed in practice so that we’re fast when it counts; in qualifying. Saying that, the first session can’t come quick enough for me now. I love riding this bike!” Mika Kallio #36: “A cool, calm and collected approach, just as we did in testing, is the key to securing a podium finish this weekend. And that is my only goal in Qatar; to start this season as I ended the last, with another top three finish. We went well in testing, but the Qatar circuit is very different in character to Jerez. There is also less grip available because of the sand that blows onto the track. But I am quite confident that we can find a good set-up on the bike, as it seems to work well wherever we go. I’m looking forward to the first race and getting my season off to a good start.” Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal “Both Mika and Scott have showed strongly during preseason testing, but now we need to translate this into race results, which we know from past experience isn’t always so easy. However, we are quietly confident about the season ahead, and we are keen to get it started with two strong results in Qatar. In Mika and Scott we have two riders who know exactly what it takes to finish on the podium in Moto2 and, although our target for this first weekend is more modest, I know that both will have thoughts of a top three finish at the back of their minds. The start of a new season is always something of a step into the unknown, but we’ve done the work over the winter and I am confident that we have never been better prepared for the first race.” More, from a press release issued by JiR Moto2 Team: Team JiR ready for Moto2 season opener in Qatar The 2012 Moto2 World Championship begins this weekend under the floodlights of the Losail circuit, in Qatar. This event held near the capital, Doha is now the traditional season opener, with the excitement of the opening race of the season being played out beneath the 3600 high-intensity floodlights that ring the circuit.For the first part of the season, Team JiR will field just one rider Johann Zarco. The Frenchman will be joined in June by young Brazilian rider Eric Granado, after his 16th birthday. Johann has a two-year deal to launch his assault on the Moto2 championship. The 21-year-old knows just how to fight for a World Championship title, having finished runner-up in last year’s 125cc series, but the new 600cc four-stroke MotoBI is a very different machine from his old 125cc two-stroke. Winter testing has seen Johann work hard to try and adapt his riding style to the bigger machine and this weekend will see him make his competitive debut in the class. Gianluca Montiron We have a two year plan with Johann and we have a good expectation of his potential for results because he has demonstrated this potential during winter testing. Obviously, we may have to wait a little while to see these results come, because he is still adapting to the Moto2 machine. I think his target after four or five races should be that he will begin to fight with the top riders in the class. Of course, we want him to aim for the top five in the championship in this first year, but we know realistically this will not be easy. So far his riding style is coming on well, but perhaps he’s still using a little too much of his old ‘125 style’ where it is about high corner speed. He needs to continue to adapt, using the brakes more and accelerating harder that’s the big difference between 125cc and Moto2. This will come though, and from our side of things I can see that Johann can be a guy who is eventually up there fighting with the leaders. This is why we have a two-year deal with him, where next year is when he fights for the title. Who knows, perhaps he will be up there earlier? After all I truly believe that while Moto2 is tougher there will be a lot of younger riders fighting for the 2012 title. It all starts this weekend where I think the track will help Johann as it could suit his style. Johann Zarco I have enjoyed pre-season testing and I feel that my riding style has improved a lot during this time. At the last Jerez test I was able to fight for a good lap-time and this was good for me, now I’m ready to make the next step. On our last day of testing in Spain we were 16th but just one second from the fastest time. That’s why I’m now looking at how to shave a further five-tenths which will see us well into the top ten. This is my target for the first race at Losail. I know that if I can get into the top ten, then riding with these guys will teach me more and I will move forward again. I know that this season my debut in Moto2 will include a lot of hard work, but I am determined and am always going to be pushing myself harder and harder. When you make the move into another class, you have to take things step-by-step and that is what I am doing. Soon the lap-times I am doing with maximum effort will come easier, that’s what happens when you learn. My best result at Losail was 6th place in 125s. It is a fast track and one I like a lot. We have some pressure on us, as we begin our first year in Moto2 but I still think we will enjoy the weekend and the year ahead. More, from a press release issued by Blusens Avintia Moto2 Team: Julián Simón is excited by his debut in Qatar as a member of the new Blusens Avintia Moto2 team New season new team for Julián Simón. Behind he has left the bad memories, the pain and the endless hours of therapy to recover from his leg injuries. Julián is a “new” man who has travelled to the circuit of Losail with renewed hope and the motivation to start off a new season which must bring along results that best suit him. The pre-season helped the laid-back Villacañas-born rider to get familiar with his new motorbike, his new team and also to the way the Blusens Avintia Moto2 team works. He feels now very muh at ease with his environment and even though he is aware that he still needs to improve a few aspects on his new FTR he is convinced that he can make it to the top. Julián Simón: “I am glad that I made it to the first G.P. of the year in good physical conditions. Feeling physically fine is crucial and I am at 100% now. I have managed to adapt well to the bike and the team during the pre-season and I am very motivated before this first race. Moto2 isn’t precisely an easy category and I know there will be some “war” going on but we are ready. The first round of the year is always a special moment which makes one nervous. I think that we riders are feeling so much like getting on our motorbikes and getting started with the season that it makes us feel a bit more upset. Here we are now. And it’s starting now!” More, from a press release issued by Team Thai Honda PTT Gresini Moto2: Ratthapark Wilairot begins his third season in the Moto2 World Championship this weekend hoping it can be the year that sees him consistently fighting at the front after signing for Team Thai Honda PTT Gresini Moto2, a project born through a new collaboration between AP Honda Thai and Gresini Racing. On board the new Moriwaki MD600 2012 the rider known to his friends as ‘Feem’ will be looking to improve on his performance from the final preseason test at Jerez and kick off the season with a top ten finish. The professionalism and experience amongst the Gresini Racing staff will certainly help him achieve his goals, whilst the ongoing backing of his Thai sponsors should help him get the support he needs in his home country. Ratthapark Wilairot “This is my third year of Moto2 and for this year I’m very happy to be joining the new team. It feels like a step forward and I know that this team can help me to improve and achieve my target. Of course racing at night in Qatar is always interesting. It looks very nice and although it’s not easy when you’re riding I feel more confident with the bike and that should allow me to enjoy myself. For sure we have to work very hard but we know the direction we need to take to prepare ourselves for the start of the season. “ Fausto Gresini “This new project born through a collaboration between Gresini Racing and AP Honda Thailand is a fascinating one because it is built towards the future and opens up a huge motorcycling market. I am proud to be working together with Honda Thailand and the group of sponsors backing Ratthapark. For such an experienced rider ‘Feem’ is still very young and has plenty of potential to improve as a rider, so we will be working hard with him to get him running at the front of this category. In Qatar we will try to improve on his performance at Jerez by working hard on his bike and the technical updates we have available. Ratthapark can be fighting for a top ten finish, even though Moto2 is a very close and combative category where the smallest mistake can cost you several positions. ‘Feem’ will be giving his best and so will we, and if we put in the right amount of concentration and effort in Qatar we can reap the rewards.”