Mika Kallio and Hiroshi Aoyama will hope to gain ground at Le Mans this weekend.
Kallio made up for his desperate luck in Qatar and a disappointing qualifying at Jerez with a terrific ride from last on the grid to seventh place in Spain.
He suffered mechanical misfortunes after 11 laps at Le Mans last year on the Pramac Ducati, but his record has generally been good on the famous Bugatti Circuit, where he scored consecutive podiums in the 125cc class in 2005 and ’06.
“The result at Jerez has given me enormous confidence for this season,” the Finnish rider commented. “I wanted to send a signal to those who always supported me even in difficult times and I think I did. I’ve heard a lot of trust around me even after the bad Saturday qualifying laps.
“I have a fairly good feeling with the track at Le Mans, where I’ve had good results in the past.”
Hiroshi Aoyama, meanwhile, will hope to build on 10th and 14th positions in Qatar and Spain respectively, and revealed that he took the opportunity with the break in the calendar to undergo minor hand surgery after the Spanish race.
“The next races are very particular from the point of view of the layouts and strategy,” Aoyama told motogp.com. “They will not be easy, but I intend to attack and gain positions early on.
“I had the surgery in Barcelona after the Jerez Test,” he added. “I had a problem in my left hand, which was stiffening up sometimes. When I started riding in the premier class I noticed it more, so for this reason I have taken these three weeks to fix it. The doctors told me that it will take ten days to recover, so I think this was a good time to have it done.”
For more on the French MotoGP action, click on the event page here
Comments
Add a comment