Red Bull KTM 250 star Mika Kallio and Spanish Repsol KTM rider Julian Simon fought a hard battle for the third podium place in Sundays 250 cc Australian GP with Kallio snatching the glory in the final seconds.

Simon swept ahead of Kallio for the first time on lap three, defending his position until the twelfth lap before both of them started their thrilling cat-and-mouse game, constantly changing positions before Kallio finally charged the chequered flag just three hundredths of a second ahead of Simon. Kallio celebrated his sixth podium finish of the season and in doing so hangs onto a mathematical chance in the fight for the world title, with a point gap to race winner Marco Simoncelli, 49 points ahead, and two races to go.

Aoyama unlucky in Phillip Island

Kallios team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama had a fantastic start and looked a sure fire podium contender until he struggled with a strange lack of speed very early on in the race and dropped back. After a lonely ride in fifth position, he finally entered the pits on the sixteenth lap of the race, where a flooded carburettor was detected.
 
Mika Kallio (Red Bull KTM 250 - third)

This was a tough fight between Julian and me. I knew that he was fast and that he would be trying to overtake me somewhere in the braking zones where he was especially strong. He got me when I made a small mistake on the third last corner but I was faster out of the last corner and managed to pass him again. Third place isnt a bad result, and it is good to be on the podium again. But its not enough to boost our championship hopes. Simoncelli is now very far ahead in the point standings, and even Bautista managed to open quite a gap on us. But we will keep our heads down and continue to work hard and to fight, and then well see where we end up!
 
Julian Simon (Repsol KTM 250 - fourth)

That was the most exciting race weve had all season. We had lots of close overtaking manoeuvres and a very high race rhythm. Simoncelli and Bautista had a little bit of an edge on us, mainly in terms of traction, but we were fast enough to fight for the podium and thats great.
 
Hiroshi Aoyama (Red Bull KTM 250 - did not finish)

My start was good, but then I suddenly lost speed on the next straight. First Mika and Simoncelli passed me, then a few others, and there was nothing I could do. Of course I tried to finish the race but it wasnt possible. Its a pity because apart from my crash on Friday, weve had a good run all weekend and we were very competitive. All we can do now is look ahead - the Malaysian Grand Prix is next on the calendar, and I like the track there very, very much!
 
Harald Bartol (Technical Director)

The battle between Mika and Julian was quite exciting but unfortunately Mika wasnt able to keep the pace of the race leaders. Compared to Simoncelli and Bautista, he suffered from a lack of traction out of the fast corners and his rear tyre was badly worn after the race. Its also a pity that Hiro wasnt able to finish the race, one carburettor was flooded which is a very rare and unusual problem.
 
Results
1. Marco Simoncelli, Italy, Gilera, 39:02.553
2. Alvaro Bautista, Spain, Aprilia, 39:02.776
3. Mika Kallio, Finland, Red Bull KTM 250, 39:17.003
4. Julian Simon, Spain, Repsol KTM 250cc, 39:17.031
5. Alex Debon, Spain, Aprilia, 39:28.779
DNF Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, Red Bull KTM 250
 
Championship Standings after 15-17 races - excludes Indianapolis (race cancelled)
1. Marco Simoncelli, Italy, 240 points
2. Alvaro Bautista, Spain, Aprilia, 203
3. Mika Kallio, Finland, Red Bull KTM, 191
4. Alex Debon, Spain, 166
5. Hector Barbera, Spain, 142
Other KTM
8. Julian Simon, Spain, Repsol KTM 250cc, 109
9. Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, Red Bull KTM 250, 108