THE MOTOGP™ EYE OF EXPERIENCE

It takes a racer to see a racer and tell a racer: Mika Kallio holds a unique role in the company’s MotoGP™ Grand Prix project so we asked him about his work and how it helps the pursuit of success…

Mika Kallio is a winner of 16 Grands Prix and holder of almost 50 world championship race podium trophies (33 of those with KTM two-stroke technology). The 40-year-old Finn has been implicit in the KTM MotoGP program since becoming the main development rider in 2016 and then combining his testing role with 13 wildcard or ‘fill-in’ starts up until 2020.

From the beginning of 2022 Mika has been an official ‘Rider Coach’ for the company and the four individuals charged with control of the RC16. This means he spends more time watching and observing rather than twisting the throttle of a prototype KTM, but it still makes demands of his particular skill set…

Being a Rider Coach might not be quite what you think…

…because we know the level of the riders and they know how to ride the bike! It is more about support and letting them know what I see on the track and in specific places. If we are having some problems then I will see if there is something I can spot, and sometimes also help with a setup decision or a judgement on tires. I have a rider’s perspective, but I can also be analytical. I will overlay Jack and Brad’s data and will see where they might be faster or where they can improve. Also, it’s about correlating what they feel on the track with what the data says. I cannot bring any magic but with MotoGP so tight these days then I add what I can to help them achieve a better lap-time. From the team I am the only one who is really watching the bikes out on the track so I can sometimes communicate the visual side to go with the riders’ feelings. A few times it can help with decision-making, or for comparing set-up with the other bikes.

An example might involve…

…sometimes I will see the difference when someone is riding in a different gear or shifting in a different way. Occasionally it will be racing lines, but it will be half a meter this way or that. Lines are not easy to see because many of the bikes behave quite similar these days and there is only one fast line that they need to hit. Of course, riding style makes a difference and the way a bike needs to be ridden is also important as well as the set-up because sacrifices might have to be made in some places to reach gains in others. It’s something I need to understand: why is the rider riding the way he does? Is it because of the style, the set-up, or the character of the bike in general? That’s why it is not easy to say to the rider “just open earlier and brake later”, you need to somehow prove your feedback will help. It cannot only be with words.

From the beginning of my career, I’ve been focused on the technical side, the riding style and how I can bring improvements…

…that meant watching other riders a lot and seeing what I could learn. I was always looking at the data from my teammate and if I could copy or improve on some things; even if I was the fastest guy on the track that day there was always a corner or a section where someone else was very good. I wanted to find those small things in my riding. In the end this was a good thing to bring: to have more knowledge and to want to keep learning. It’s also why KTM also chose me to be a test rider at the beginning of the MotoGP project and now as a Rider Coach. It is a long-term thing that I’m still learning about.

The differences between Jack and Brad’s styles are quite interesting…

… and there are differences! In the end it is better for us as a team and a company that each rider has his own style…although the truth is that they are not too far apart. They like to ride in a similar way in terms of being aggressive on the brakes and aggressive with the bike. They slide a lot into the corners. This means they like similar things for the set-up. If we compare them to the GASGAS guys then they are riding in a completely different way. Jack and Brad are close and that’s somehow easier for us as a team to understand the setup to get to a good level for both. The balance now is very good.

Talking to the rider can sometimes involve delicate moments…

… but I think this responsibility also belongs to other people in the team. You need to see the mood of the rider and, of course, people are not always in a good mood everyday so you might need to bring him ‘up’ and try to make him feel more confident. Sometimes the riders might be a little too excited for some reason and a bit too ‘hot’; we need to calm them down then, but this is quite normal and something the crew are used to handling. Luckily in our case at KTM, Jack and Brad are level-headed guys. Every rider has ups-and-downs and good races and bad races but the good riders across a season know how to find a way of being ‘level’ and making sure the bad days can be, or feel, as close to the good ones as possible. The really good riders know how to push on bad days and that’s when the crew around them really help. The crew plays its part, but the rider has to find a way to be as consistent as possible with his mind.

Testing?! Ha! I’m travelling a lot now and that means I cannot have so much time on the bike…

…I’d like to do more but it’s not always possible. I like to get a feeling of the bike and to understand the spec the guys are racing, that’s important for my understanding and knowing immediately what the riders mean if they are having some problems. Dani [Pedrosa] is riding a lot more as I stepped into the coaching role in 2022 which meant I had to skip tests and the reason why Jonas [Folger] has been hired to be on the track as well with the test team. I would say for the last ten years testing has been important but even more so since the rules changed, and the racers could not do it that much. The test program becomes even more important. The test team is always a little ahead and to be part of that was cool. You get the satisfaction from having some influence that eventually pays off [at the Grand Prix].

I did some wildcard race appearances, and you never know what will happen in the future but…

…I hope our guys stay fit and healthy. I hope I won’t need to replace them but…I still need to be ready. Honestly, I have the feeling that this chapter of my life has finished, and I have given everything I had for MotoGP. I was ready to test in my first years with KTM and I enjoyed being on the bike but lining up on the grid and being with the other guys and dealing with…I would not say ‘pressure’ but having to have that mentality when you close the visor to risk everything, was not that easy anymore. I felt that in my last few races, and you need to have it if you want to be on the grid. In the past to go to that level felt easy: you took risks without thinking…but step-by-step you see that you need to push yourself to be that way. I don’t have the same motivation to be in the races now as I used to. I know how difficult it would be, even just to be on the level I knew I used to be. I don’t like to be at the bottom of the [results] list. It would be frustrating! And I know that would be the case if I can back for one or two races. What Dani did at Jerez this year to match his lap-times with our current riders was outstanding. We knew he could do it though because he had the motivation. It’s not easy and for that he has my full admiration.

It’s quite crazy to see the difference in the KTM MotoGP project compared to when we started at the end of 2016…

…but then MotoGP has also changed in that time with all the developments and the riding styles. There is so much knowledge involved. We were a factory team from the beginning but the level of knowledge that we had in the first year or two was very different to what we have now! We still managed to do quite well in a few races at the beginning of the story but to compare the bikes from the time when we made our debut in Valencia and it is a completely different world. As a rider then it has always been hard to be at the top, in any era, but now there is so much going on [with the bikes] that you really need to take care. Year-by-year, you need to understand more about the bike and how to keep the tires in a good condition. Every year there is more understanding and experience of how to take performance and potential from the tires and the bike and the aero. The team improves their knowledge and brings it to the rider, who must then also improve and understand. There is more to consider now. In the past it felt more like ‘pure’ racing; you just tried to maximize the lap-time and always be on the limit. Rider against rider. Now you need to take care of other aspects. Think about many things. The technical side has more influence on the result. It’s something special to see when KTM is on top, of course. We’ve had a special relationship, even from the two-stroke days so, it’s been like a family for me for a long time. I am not on the bike anymore, but I still get the satisfaction of being a part of it, especially when I can give the guys something and help somehow.