M2: Marc VDS Valencia test summary

POSITIVE FIRST TEST FOR KALLIO AND MARC VDS

Mika Kallio today completed a successful first test at Valencia aboard the bike he will campaign alongside Scott Redding in the 2011 Moto2 World Championship. Redding was also on track today, evaluating evolution parts for Suter Racing, including a revised chassis.

Kallio completed 77 laps of the Valencia circuit today, aboard a Suter MMX machine fitted with a standard CBR600 engine and gearbox. The Finn, who celebrated his 28th birthday today, recorded his best time of 1'39.9s on only his second exit from pit lane, before encountering the chatter problems that so many first time Moto2 riders experience.

It was a positive introduction to the Moto2 class for Kallio, despite a minor tumble at turn four - the first right-hand corner on the circuit - on a cold front tyre. The Marc VDS rider will return to the Valencia circuit on Thursday for a further day of testing, this time with a supersport tuned engine and kit gearbox fitted in the bike.

Redding completed a total of 40 laps as he worked to evaluate upgraded components on his Suter MMX machine, including a revised chassis. Despite unpredictable winds that made comparison tests difficult, the 17-year-old Marc VDS rider reported improvements in a number of areas, most importantly with rear traction out of the turns.

Mika Kallio #36: 77 Laps - Best Lap 1'39.9
"I've never ridden this type of bike before, so I came into this test with no real expectations. Immediately during the first run I could feel the bike is much lighter than a MotoGP machine, changing direction much quicker as a result, but obviously there is also a lot less power. The bike was fun to ride; in the corners you can carry more speed than in MotoGP, but chatter is a problem for me at the moment. Apparently this is normal and everyone complains of it when they ride these bikes for the first time, but the team tell me that you eventually get used to it with more time on track. On Thursday we will run the supersport engine and kit gearbox, which will eliminate the small issues we had with the standard gearbox today and give us some more power."

Scott Redding #45: 40 Laps - Best Lap 1'36.9
"It was pretty windy out on the track today, which isn't ideal for testing new parts, but the revised chassis definitely offers better rear traction and improved drive out of the corners. There are other small improvements, but we need more track time on Thursday, hopefully in better conditions, to get a feel for how much of an improvement the new parts offer. It's been good to have the Marc VDS car teams with us here this weekend at Valencia; I'm sure they enjoyed the three races on Sunday and I think we may have managed to convert more than one of them into bike racing fans!"

Michael Bartholemy: Team Manager
"The wind meant that conditions weren't ideal for Mika's debut Moto2 ride, nor for Scott's development schedule today. Mika was quick to adapt to the Suter MMX, but ran into the chatter issues that are common for new riders in this class. We know from experience that we can alleviate the problem and this will be one of our main priorities at the next test with Mika on Thursday. Scott started the test on his race bike, before switching to a revised chassis that will form the basis of the 2011 Suter MMX. His initial feedback was good, although we need more time in better conditions to confirm this first impression."

-source: marc vds