Mika Kallio, KTM test rider, will miss the MotoGP test in Qatar. The Finn suffered a fracture during an ice training session
Bad news for Mika Kallio less than a week before the first MotoGP test in Qatar. The KTM test driver got injured while riding a motorcycle on ice in Finland. He has to deal with seven or eight-week break, so he will miss the entire Losail tour. On February 16-17th, the Finnish tester tested the new RC16 on the Jerez circuit, an engagement where colleague Dani Pedrosa was also present, as well as Stefan Bradl and Michele Pirro. Kallio sustained a fractured tibia and fibula during training on the bike while not suffering a fall. “Now I am waiting for the operation, the tibia and fibula need to be repaired”, he wrote on social media. “Unfortunately, sometimes a small and harmless mistake has painful consequences. That’s not what I had in mind for today’s Ice Road Race.”
The development of the KTM RC16 2021 prototype, therefore, passes into the hands of only Dani Pedrosa. The bitterness remains for having failed in the key moment for the brand. His last injury dates back to 2018, on the Sachsenring circuit, which forces him to stay out for six months. His last presence in MotoGP dates back to the 2020 Portuguese GP, when he took the place of Iker Lecuona positive at Covid-19. “When a day dedicated to a hobby goes wrong, even an experienced driver cannot afford to lose focus and it often happens in certain seemingly harmless situations … I apologize to those concerned, this is the dark side of racing, even as a hobby. “