Kallio Finishes Fourth!

September 16, 2012 By

Misano, Italy – 16 September 2012: Mika Kallio took a hard fought fourth place finish this afternoon at Misano, in a Moto 2 race run over just 14 laps following a restart because of oil on the track. Scott Redding was battling with his teammate early on in the race, but dropped back in the final few laps of the race and eventually finished seventh.

Both Kallio and Redding got away with the leading group of riders from the original start, but the race was red-flagged after just three laps when Gino Rea’s engine blew and deposited oil on the track. While Kallio restarted the race from his original grid position, ninth, Redding was demoted from the front to the second row and started from fifth.

Kallio got away cleanly once again at the restart, making up a handful of places in the run down to the first turn. The 29-year-old Finn then safely negotiated the tricky first three corners and was immediately involved in the battle for the race lead. Kallio continued to pick off places and was closing on the leading trio when he was held up by Tito Rabat, who was struggling for rear grip.

By the time Kallio had found a way past the Spaniard, Iannone, Espargaro and Marquez had already built up an insurmountable gap at the front of the race. The Marc VDS rider came under pressure from Tom Lüthi and Dominique Aegerter at mid-race distance, but held off both to claim fourth position at the chequered flag.

Redding also got away well from the restart, battling in the same group as his teammate. At the midpoint it looked like both Marc VDS riders would finish inside the top five, but as the race entered the closing stages the 19-year-old Briton lost a couple of places on the straight, which he was unable to reclaim through the corners.

It was a disappointment for Redding, who has been strong at Misano in all conditions this weekend and was confident of being able to fight for a podium finish today.

The Marc VDS Racing Team will return to action in two weeks time, in round 13 of the FIM Moto2 World Championship in Aragon, Spain.

Mika Kallio #36: 4th Position
“The start is all-important here at Misano, and I got away from the line cleanly from the restart, making up a lot of places into the first turn. Then I managed to find a clean line through turns two and three, which isn’t always easy, which put me onto the back of the leading group. I was pretty comfortable running the same pace as the front three, but then Tito Rabat started struggling for rear grip in front of me and trying to find a way past him held me up for a few laps. By the time I was through and into fourth, the leaders had gone. I tried to push to close the gap, but I felt like I was on the limit. I’m happy with fourth, but also disappointed to miss out on the podium. If we can find that little bit of pace we’re still missing, then I think we can be challenging for the podium at every race.”

Scott Redding #45: 7th Position
“I should have been on the podium here today, no question. I’ve been fast all weekend but, today, when it counted, the pace just wasn’t there. The short race should have suited me, and I was quick to find a good rhythm, but every time I passed someone they’d just drive past me on the straight and I couldn’t retake them in the next turn, because they had the speed that I was missing. It’s getting more and more frustrating now. For me it’s stopped being about who’s the best rider in Moto2, because physical size seems to be more important than skill. We need to find something to offset the disadvantage, and we need to find it fast.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“Mika rode a great race, holding off some serious challenges from the likes of Lüthi, Rabat and Aegerter to finish fourth today. It was just unfortunate he got held up in the early stages otherwise I’m confident he’d have been on the podium today. Scott has been strong here all weekend but, once again, he was losing out on the straight in the race. We have tried everything we possibly can to reduce this, but we’ve only been partially successful. He’s bigger than everyone else, and we’re trying to compensate for that, but we’re starting to run out of options. But, we need to do something ahead of the next race at Aragon, where the long straight is certain to cause similar issues in the race. It’s not easy but then if it was, everyone would be doing it.”

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Front Row Start for Redding at Misano!

September 15, 2012 By

Misano, Italy – 15 September 2012: Scott Redding secured his fourth front row start of the season at Misano, posting the third fastest time in this afternoon’s qualifying, the first fully dry session of the weekend. Mika Kallio will start from ninth position and the third row of the grid, after encountering front-end problems on his final qualifying run.

The Moto2 protagonists got their first dry track time towards the end of this morning’s session, after yesterday was disrupted by rain. Although dry, the track was in less than ideal conditions, but that didn’t stop Kallio posting the second quickest time, with his Marc VDS teammate, Redding, just two further places back in fourth.

The sun finally made an appearance at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli this afternoon, with the all-import 45-minute qualifying session held in almost perfect conditions. Redding was quick to show his form, moving up to second on the timesheet early on in the session, then continually improving his lap time to eventually finish third fastest.

Kallio has been fast all weekend, regardless of the conditions, and looked all set to join his Marc VDS teammate on the front row this afternoon. The 29-year-old Finn built up his pace throughout the 45-minute session, before heading out for one final run and a crack at the pole position time. Unfortunately for Kallio, as soon as he exited pit lane on his out lap, he encountered a problem with unusual vibration from the front-end of his Kalex Moto2 machine. Despite the issue the Marc VDS rider still managed to improve his lap time, to finish just 0.5s off pole, but was disappointed to be off the front two rows of the grid in ninth.

Marc VDS backed Rookie Cup rider, Livio Loi, took his third podium finish in as many races this afternoon at Misano. The 15-year-old Belgian led the way for most of the 17-lap race, before succumbing to a questionable move by Karel Hanika on the final lap that pushed him wide and dropped him to third at the chequered flag.

Scott Redding #45: 3rd – 1’38.339
“It’s good to be starting on the front row again, especially here. The first part of the track is quite tight and twisty, so you don’t want to be getting held up through the danger zones right at the start. It also means it’s not such a run to the first turn and that should also help me a bit. The bike felt good, the pace was there and the track was a lot less slippery than I thought it was going to be, so we’re in a pretty good position for the race tomorrow, despite the lack of dry track time this weekend. I can do the lap time, but I was quite on the edge with the front, so if we can make a few changes ahead of warm-up tomorrow to smooth things out then I’ll be really happy.”

Mika Kallio #36: 9th – 1’38.794
“I don’t know what the problem was on my last run, but there was definitely something not right with the front of the bike. It felt like there was a bulge in the tyre, which was causing a lot of vibration and causing the front to jump around. I still managed to set my fastest time, but without the problem I know I could have gone faster and the front row was a real possibility. But, there it is. We know we have the pace for the race, and I’m confident about tomorrow, but starting from the third row isn’t ideal. We will see how the race unfolds, as there’s definitely an opportunity to maybe save the tyres early in the race and then come strong towards the finish. Either way, I need to make a good start tomorrow and then take things from there.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“It’s been a difficult weekend here at Misano, with the weather having a big impact on all three free practice sessions. Qualifying this afternoon was the first time we’ve had decent track conditions all weekend, and both riders made the most of them. Scott did a great job to qualify on the front row. It’s his fourth front row start of the season, but probably the most important, as the first part of the Misano track will be difficult if we have a typical Moto2 opening lap. We don’t know yet what was wrong with Mika’s bike, as we are still waiting to hear back from Dunlop about the tyre, but without the problem I’m confident we’d have had both riders on the front row. I’m also confident that Scott and Mika are capable of good results here, and the podium is a possibility for both. Livio rode another good race in the Rookies Cup today. He was quick to force his way through from sixth on the grid to take the lead and then pretty much controlled the race from the front. On the last lap he fell victim to quite a hard move from Hanika, which forced him to sit the bike up and dropped him back to third place at the chequered flag. A great result, but I know he’s disappointed to have missed out on his second win.”

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Kallio shines in difficult conditions at Misano

September 14, 2012 By

Misano, Italy – 14 September 2012: Mika Kallio mastered the difficult mixed conditions to finish the opening day at Misano fifth fastest, despite a low speed crash towards the end of this afternoon’s wet session. Scott Redding struggled to find a good feeling with the bike in the difficult conditions and ended the day in 17th position.

Mika Kallio was tenth fastest in this morning’s 45-minute free practice, which was held in wet conditions after a rain shower arrived over the Misano circuit shortly before the start of the session. Grip was both difficult to find and the level difficult to predict, offering little feedback to Kallio as he pushed to find the limit on full wet tyres.

Conditions were similar for the start of this afternoon’s second free practice, with the sporadic rain arriving at the start and soaking the track, but then stopping almost immediately, allowing conditions to improve as the session progressed. Kallio was running consistently near the top of the timesheet throughout, improving on his time from this morning, but had to settle for fifth position after crashing uninjured towards the end of the session.

Kallio wasn’t the only Marc VDS rider to crash today, as Redding went down uninjured after losing the front in this morning’s free practice. The 19-year-old Briton returned to the track before the end of the session, eventually finishing 17th fastest.

Like his teammate Redding improved his lap time during this afternoon’s free practice, but struggled with edge grip in the wet conditions, on a track that offered little in the way of grip or feedback. The Marc VDS rider ended the day 17th fastest, but is confident that, once conditions improve tomorrow, he has the pace to run closer to the top of the timesheet.

Mika Kallio #36: 5th – 1’52.569
“Apart from the crash this afternoon, I think we can be satisfied with fifth position and just 0.5 off the fastest guys in these conditions today. The crash was one of those things; maybe I made a small mistake and got a bit off line, because the rear just came round on me when I got on the throttle and it flicked me over the highside. Ahead of this afternoon’s session we made a few small set-up changes, which improved the feeling, but the grip level is so low here it was difficult to know where the limit was. I was on the pace in these conditions today but, like everyone else, I’m hoping the forecast for better weather tomorrow proves to be correct.”

Scott Redding #45: 17th – 1’53.998
“The crash this morning was a little bit unexpected; I was just riding around when I gave it a little bit too much front brake, locked the front and it chucked me off. This afternoon’s session wasn’t too bad, but I didn’t quite have the feeling that I normally have in the rain. I struggled a bit to get the bike turned and I was missing a bit of edge grip at the rear. I was trying to be smooth, but the bike was moving around a lot underneath me and lap times just didn’t seem to come. I’m not too concerned, as the conditions are supposed to be better tomorrow and we know we have a dry set-up that we can go straight into the race with if we need to.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“Rain, blustery wind and a cold and slippery track; conditions couldn’t have been much worse today. Mika did a good job today, quickly finding a set-up and a rhythm that allowed him to continually improve his pace throughout both sessions. Unfortunately he got caught out right at the end, crashing without injury after going off line, otherwise I think he’d have been a bit closer to the top of the timesheet today. Scott’s confidence took a bit of a knock with the crash this morning and he wasn’t able to find a good feeling with the bike in either session as a result. The forecast is for better conditions tomorrow, and I’m confident that Scott will take advantage to improve his pace and his position.”

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Phil Soven Wins My Wake Contest

September 11, 2012 By

The last event of the season, Tige’s My Wake contest, just wrapped up in Orlando and it ended with Arma Energy’s Phil Soven on top of the podium. Congrats Phil on finishing a great year off with a win! Check more of Phil out on MTV’s Wake Brothers Monday nights at 11pm!

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Arma MX Athletes in Italy!

September 10, 2012 By

After the spectacular podium of the last GP in Holland the Honda Gariboldi-Esta riders were asked to confirm their improvements on the totally different track of Faenza in Italy for the 15th round of the FIM Motocross World Championship and some extra crash of both riders Aleksandr Tonkov and Max Anstie have prevented better results in the weekend.

The russian TONKOV scored the best results for the Team with a 7th finish place in the qualifying race and the 8th place in the second moto on sunday after crashing in the first moto when fourth and wasting a great opportunity to score his best overall of the season.

Max ANSTIE had a tough weekend on a track which he may do not like scoring only a 12th finish place in the first moto and crashing in the second moto after a good start.

Next and last round of the FIM World Championship season will take place in Teutschenthal, Germany !

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Arma at Pala Amateur Championships!

September 9, 2012 By

The Amateur Championships of motocross just took place at Pala Raceway and Arma was out in full effect! Congrats to all the riders that competed in the race. Check the photos…

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Podium in Holland for Max Anstie!

September 3, 2012 By

First deserved podium of the season for Team Honda Gariboldi-Esta’s Max Anstie and his CRF250R in Lierop in Round 14 of the MX2 World Championship in front of 22,000 spectators !

The strong british rider Max ANSTIE showed how fast he can be in these testing conditions in deep sand finishing a fantastic 3rd in both motos of the Grand Prix onboard of his performant CRF250R and passing all the top riders except for the extraordinary dutch rider Jeffrey Herlings and belgian Van Horebeek. With all the pieces of the puzzle coming together Anstie justified his nomination for a place at the MXoN in Lommel for Team England.

The russian Aleksandr TONKOV finished 11th overall with a brave ride after crashing in the warm up of the sunday morning and starting in both motos physically limited. Tonkov will also take part at the MXoN in Lommel for Team Russia with his CRF250R.

“it took us too many GP’s to get here today but this was the goal of the team since the beginning of the season: we wanted to take the CRF250R on the Podium and today the bike is there ! Max did a great job and we always believed he could do it, we just needed a bit of luck and everything going in the right directions. We knew when we started the season that we had to develop a new bike and when you do this you can meet with some problems as it happened to all the bikes we see in front now in the championship, it’s a duty you have to pay to be up there next year. We have always worked as hard as possible for Max and Aleksandr to give them a top bike to ride and today we can say that we reached the goal. I have to thank so much all the staff of the Martin Racing Technology for this fantastic podium, they worked so hard with us all along the season and they really deserved to see the bike up there. We also had a great cooperation with Technical Touch for our Kayaba suspensions they did a marvellous job and you could see the results on tracks like Lierop. I wish to thank all our partners and sponsors and I can grant them that he will work harder to get these kind of results weekly next season.” commented Team Owner manager Giacomo Gariboldi.

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Aleksandr Tonkov Feature in InsideMXGP Mag!

September 3, 2012 By

Check out this article our friends over at InsideMXGP mag put together on Aleksandr Tonkov!

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Arma BMX Team Hits Dew Tour!

August 22, 2012 By

This last weekend Stevie McCann, Brandon Dosch, and Gary Young all headed out to Ocean City, MD for the first stop of the Dew Tour. Steve finished 4th in bmx vert and Gary rode to a solid 8th place. Unfortunately Brandon broke his fibula and was unable to compete. Send him your well wishes. He is estimating a quick five weeks before he will be back on the bike.

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Arma Athletes Finish Strong at Indy Moto GP!

August 21, 2012 By

Indianapolis, USA – 19 August 2012: The Arma Marc VDS Racing Team enjoyed a successful visit to the world famous Brickyard, with Mika Kallio taking a hard fought fourth and Scott Redding a creditable sixth place in today’s Indianapolis Moto2 Grand Prix.

Kallio was quick off the line from the third row of the grid, making up places on the run down to the first turn and latching onto the back of the leading group. The 29-year-old Finn made up more places in the opening laps, but then got held up for three laps by Andrea Iannone, who was dropping back through the field with tyre problems.

By the time Kallio managed to force his way through on the Italian, the leading group of three riders had already pulled an unassailable two second gap at the front of the race, leaving the Marc VDS rider to hold off a determined challenge from Thomas Lüthi for the remainder of the race, before taking the chequered flag ahead of the Swiss rider in fourth place.

Redding hit problems on the opening lap, running into the back of Julian Simon and the former 125cc World Champion braked early to avoid another rider in front of him. The 19-year-old Briton then hit a false neutral coming onto the main straight at the end of the opening lap and lost contact with the leading group as a result.

The Marc VDS rider continued to push hard, but was losing ground on the two straights on the Indianapolis circuit and having to take chances on the brakes into turn one. Once clear of the group battling for seventh place, Redding quickly closed onto the battle for fourth place, which was being waged by teammate Kallio and Lüthi. Unfortunately Redding ran out of laps before he could mount a challenge on the Swiss rider and had to settle for sixth place at the chequered flag.

The Marc VDS Racing Team will be back in action in just five days time, in the Czech Republic Grand Prix, the 11th round of the Moto2 World Championship, at the Brno circuit.

Mika Kallio #36: 4th Position
“I got a good start and managed to make up places on the opening lap, but a lot of riders were trying to conserve tyres and the lap times were quite slow. But then Marquez started to pull away at the front of the race and I knew I had to go, but I struggled to get past Iannone and by the time I did eventually squeeze through, the leading group had gone. I pushed to try and catch them at first, but there was no way I could bridge a two-second gap, so focussed instead of securing fourth position. It was a good race and I had some good battles, especially with Lüthi right at the end. I’m happy enough with fourth, but also a little disappointed. If I hadn’t got stuck behind Iannone for so long, losing contact with the leaders, then I know I had the pace to challenge Espargaro and Simon for the podium.”

Scott Redding #45: 6th Position
“I knew I had to go with the leading group of riders if I was to be in with a shot of the podium, but the opening lap put paid to that plan. Firstly I hit the back of Simon into turn three when everyone braked early and then I missed a gear at the start of the main straight. I lost time in both incidents and by that time the leading trio had gone. I was involved in a big group for most of the race and, although I was faster, it was almost impossible to get past them. I was losing so much ground on the straight the only way to pass was to go underneath them from miles back into turn one. It was a bit risky, but it eventually worked. Once clear I managed to catch Lüthi and Mika, but ran out of laps before I could line them up for a pass. Other than missing out on the podium I’m pretty happy with my race, but I’ll be looking for more next weekend in Brno.”

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