TONY CAIROLI TESTS KTM’S MOTOGP RC16 ROAD RACER

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Tony Cairoli was on his honeymoon with wife Jill when he visited the Valencias circuit in Spain and did 22 laps on the KTM RC16 MotoGP bike—with Mika Kallio showing him the ropes.

Tony Cairoli on the KTM RC16 in Valencia

Tony went out on the track five times and put in 22 laps on the 200-plus horsepower road racer. Tony hit 185 kilometers during his test runs. “I am grateful to KTM for the fantastic opportunity it has given me today and I would like to especially thank the guys in the test team who did a great job for me.”

“Trying a MotoGP bike was always going to be hugely exciting and the adrenaline rush was enormous! I was surprised at how much the Grand Prix motorbike has evolved in ten years and how much has been improved in how it can corner. The brakes and acceleration are impressive and it’s hard to find the limit on such a perfect bike.”

“On the last run I started to have some serious fun after spending a few laps adapting myself, especially to the gearbox, which is backwards compared to any other bike.Having Mika Kallio ride in front of me was very important as I could follow his lines, allowing me to improve lap after lap, finding the best trajectories. It is very different to motocross as in MotoGP the lines are well established and don’t really change during a race….completely opposite to how the lines develop in motocross throughout the course of a moto.”

Photos: S. Taglioni S