MotoGP: KTM To Wildcard At Valencia
Rennie Scaysbrook | July 20, 2016
KTM MotoGP test rider Mika Kallio has confirmed the team will participate as a wildcard in the final round of the 2016 MotoGP World Championship at Valencia in Spain on November 13.
Kallio and fellow test rider Tom Luthi had been participating in the official MotoGP test at Spielberg in Austria ahead of the 2016 Austrian MotoGP, the two riders surprising many with the pace of the Austrian machine in its first outing against the established teams and riders.
“I think everyone can be really satisfied that we’re here with the others. In the end I think the lap times were on a good level, quite good,” said Kallio to motogp.com, who has been leading development on the RC16. “We tried to follow the others and see how the bike is behaving and where we are losing compared to them.”
“Around two seconds behind the fastest guys, at the moment it’s quite good. We still have time to work before we come to the Valencia race.”
KTM are not the first to wildcard before their full-time return, Suzuki also used the Valencia GP in 2014 as chance to compare themselves to the established order.