News 20 Sep 2018

Kallio to remain as Red Bull KTM MotoGP test rider in 2019

Long-time test KTM rider still recovery from knee injury.

Source: Supplied.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing has renewed its contract with Mika Kallio for 2019, marking the fourth consecutive year of key testing development work for the former grand prix winner with the KTM RC16.

Kallio is currently recovering from a knee ligament injury sustained during the German round of the current MotoGP World Championship at the Sachsenring in July, although he’s anticipated to be back at 100 percent health when the testing schedule ramps up for next season.

“I’m doing well with my recovery,” said Kallio. “The program is laid out so I will hopefully be 100 percent by the time we need to start work for 2019. I’m ahead of schedule but there are also days where I make progress and sometimes when it doesn’t feel like much, so it is day-by-day.

“I’m wearing a splint to protect the knee from bad torsion and I’m working hard on mobility and building up the muscle around the joint again. I have been cycling and can walk without crutches although it is still too early for me to try the bike. It’s great to stay with KTM.

“We’ve made some good gains with the RC16 and I think you can see that through the race times in 2018. It will be exciting to see how much further we can keep moving closer to that lead group.”

In a report last week, retiring Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa was linked to a testing role with the Red Bull KTM Racing Team, however no further developments have surfaced at this stage.

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