Scott Redding and Mika Kallio head for the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on the Adriatic coast this weekend determined to rediscover the early season form that saw them claim four podium finishes in just five races.
Kallio ran as high as fifth last time out in Brno, after battling his way through the field from the fourth row of the grid, but dropped back to ninth after struggling once again with mid-race chatter issues. Kallio has one podium to his name already this season - second place at the Sachsenring - and has only finished outside the top ten on one occasion.
Redding qualified strongly on the front row of the grid at Brno, but crashed out of the race on the opening lap after losing the front at turn three. It was a disappointing end to what had started as a positive weekend, and the 19-year-old Briton is keen to make amends at Misano, where he equalled his best result of the season last year with a fifth place finish.
Misano features many fast-flowing sections along with slower combinations that test tyres, machine and rider skill to the maximum. The track is incredibly bumpy in places and with the often-stifling heat on the Adriatic coast tyre durability can be a major factor during the race. The Misano weekend guarantees an electric atmosphere, generated by the passionate Italian fans who flock to the circuit in their thousands.
The Marc VDS Racing Team arrive in Misano for this weekend's 12th round of the Moto2 World Championship off the back of a successful day of testing at the Vallelunga circuit near Rome. The focus of the test was on evaluating upgrades to the 2012 Kalex Moto2 machine, but Kallio and Redding also completed back-to-back testing with a Kalex development frame that could form the basis of the 2013 bike.
Kallio and Redding's Moto2 machines will feature a new, one-off livery this weekend, as the Marc VDS Racing Team welcome Go&Fun as a main sponsor for the Misano round.
Mika Kallio #36:
"The test at Vallelunga was important for us, because we had a few ideas as to how we could improve the set-up of the bike to try and eliminate this chatter issue, but there isn't time to test things like that during a race weekend. We also tested the new frame on Tuesday; Scott didn't like it so much, but for me it worked quite well. The front part of the frame isn't as stiff and, as a result, gave more feedback from the front tyre, which gives you more confidence pushing into the corners. We also tried a few suspension changes on the current bike and now have a good direction with a slightly different set-up, which should be good for Misano. I don't know what it is about Italy, but I never seem to have good results in this country, something always seems to go wrong. Hopefully my Italian luck will change for the better this weekend in Misano!"
Scott Redding #45:
"The test on Tuesday was really good for a couple of reasons. We managed to try quite a lot of things on the bike, and the track layout was well suited to testing. It's also an enjoyable track to ride; it was good to get back on the bike, to have some fun on track and to get back into the racing mindset. Most of what we tried during the test worked well, while some things didn't work quite so well. But that's the whole point of testing. I'm looking forward to this weekend. I like the Misano track and it's one that doesn't punish me for being bigger than the other Moto2 riders. There's only one straight and there are a couple of very fast corners where you can make up time if you hang it out a bit. We’ll approach this weekend like we did Brno, building up the pace during practice ready for qualifying and the race."
Marc VDS Racing Team Press Release
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Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/Ac4sbz-Fpc-/Kallio+Redding+looking+return+form+Misano
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