Positive test for Red Bull KTM Ajo at Mugello

04/06/2013

Luis Salom, Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Arthur Sissis test KTM chassis at Italian circuit with good results.

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With no time to rest, the Red Bull KTM Ajo team stayed on in Tuscany after Sunday in order to participate today in the first official test day since the beginning of the season. Luis Salom, Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Arthur Sissis were satisfied with the testing carried out on the KTM chassis prepared for this Moto3-only day. The final conclusions were very positive and the team hopes that they can be begin to implement the changes at Montmelo, the next venue on the calendar.

Two days on from the victory for Luis Salom at the Italian Grand Prix, the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders were back on their Moto3 bikes for further development. The day was intense, with only an hour’s break at midday and many hours on track.

Salom, Sissis and Zulfahmi Khairuddin put in continuous laps at the 5.245km Italian circuit, with the latter riding the most laps with 42. Salom tried out a new chassis that KTM had brought to Mugello, whilst his teammates dedicated their day to testing new parts and configurations with the current frame.

In the final runout, all three improved their lap times. Arthur Sissis was the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider most comfortable compared to his weekend, clocking a fastest lap of under 2 minutes and besting his time from qualifying. Zulfahmi Khairuddin finished up early thanks to a small, harmless crash.

In the combined afternoon session, Luis Salom was fifth fastest with a 1:58.420 lap,  Arthur Sissis —1:59.925— thirteenth and Zulfhami Khairuddin —2:00.290— seventeenth.

Results (Combined Sessions)
1. Maverick Viñales (KTM) 1:57.889
2. Jonas Folger (Kalex KTM) 1:58.168 +0.279
3. Alex Marquez (KTM) 1:58.206 +0.317
4. Alex Rins (KTM) 1:58.273 +0.384
5. Luis Salom (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:58.420 +0.531
13. Arthur Sissis (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:59.925 +2.036
17. Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:00.290 +2.401

Luis Salom,
“It was a tough day, intense and long. I don’t think I have ever tried out so many things in one day of testing! I put in a lot of laps and kilometres. Due to this, we have taken important and positive conclusions from today to try to take advantage of at the next event, the Grand Prix of Catalonia.”

Arthur Sissis,
“The feeling today was very good. I have to say I felt much better than during the weekend. I put in many laps, and this allowed us to play around with different chassis configurations and test new parts. The final conclusion from this test is very positive.”

Zulfahmi Khairuddin,
“The day of testing went pretty well today. In the morning, we tried out many chassis parts. This way we were left with the ones we liked and discarded those with which we did not feel so comfortable. In spite of the fact that my best time was not very good, I’m happy because the feeling was better than during the weekend. In the final session I suffered a crash and that impeded us from getting the bike completely ready. I’m very happy with the work done by KTM and the team, because we worked very hard. I’m confident about Montmelo, where I hope to continue to work well and be able to qualify better.”

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