How is the 35-year-old Finnish test pilot doing? Mika Kallio ? Since a cursed Friday the 13th Sachsenring, during an FP1 marked by a violent fall at turn 8, his life and career were punctuated by an injury to the ligaments of a knee which still made him suffer like a martyr. Meanwhile, the MotoGP planet turns. Randy De Puniet was hired to continue work on the RC16 and, tomorrow, Dani Pedrosa will undoubtedly be the flagship test driver of the Mattighofen firm. But he can do nothing more than observe and must be all the more patient as he is not even considering a return next November for the last Grand Prix of the year in Valencia...
Before taking stock of the situation, Mika Kallio recalls the seriousness of the facts: “II was under anesthesia for seven hours, the operation lasted five hours. Of course I had a lot of pain after the operation ". A suffering that continues: “ I am in constant pain from nerves. But this pain should go away sooner or later ».
He explains : " with such an injury, you're usually out for six months. But I feel better every day. Knee mobility is satisfactory, I can bend it to a maximum of 110 degrees. So I can train and ride my bike. But riding a motorcycle is out of the question. However, my physiotherapists assure me that we have exceeded the timetable set for convalescence. ».
Suddenly, he slips… “ in a few weeks I will try something ", with a motorcycle of course... But we must not get excited: " with KTM we decided it would be wiser to stay home, focus on rehab and be ready to test again as soon as possible. The wild card planned for Aragón was canceled shortly after my injury. And for now, we don't even have plans to return to the Valencia Grand Prix on November 18 ».
