Khairuddin and Ajo left to lament crash

An unfortunate incident took both Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Niklas Ajo out of the Moto3™ Monster Energy Grand Prix de France on Sunday. As the Malaysian highsided, the Finn was helpless in avoiding his trouble-hit rival.

The moment – which can be re-lived on motogp.com – occurred on the exit of the Chemin aux Boeufs ‘S’ bend, as Zhairuddin was flicked over the top of his Red Bull KTM Ajo machine. Avant Tecno’s Ajo attempted to evacuate onto the grass, but his bike was collected by Khairuddin’s feet as the latter slid over the kerbs.

“At the beginning I was quite careful, just to check the weather,” Khairuddin explained after the race. “I started to pass many, many riders. I don’t know what happened. I just lost grip. I’m a bit disappointed because I knew I could catch the front group, or at least the top five group. In these conditions it is so difficult to have a good result, only we need a bit of luck sometimes. I’m really happy with the work we have done this weekend and hopefully we can continue at Mugello.”

Ajo shared his version of events as the innocent victim:

“Of course it’s quite disappointing because the position was good and I had taken the start of the race very carefully. The other guy crashed in front of me and I couldn’t do anything. I had to move to the other side of the track to try and avoid him, but it happened – that’s racing [smiles]. I hit my knee pretty hard in the impact after the crash and it was the same (knee) I had hit in Jerez, so that’s why it was quite painful but it’s not bad; it’s just a big hit and that’s it.”

The coming together was certainly less than ideal for Aki Ajo, Niklas’ father and team head of the outfit for which Khairuddin rides. However there was also good news, as Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Luis Salom finished on the podium despite a heavy crash in Saturday practice which had resulted in a trip to hospital before qualifying.

“Of course I’m not extremely happy, but I am happy that we have collected points and it is still the beginning of the season,” Ajo Senior commented. “I feel that we maybe used a setting too soft in comparison with our competitors, but it was really, really difficult because even on the grid we were still deciding whether to use wet tyres or slicks. In the end we have to be happy with the third position.”

The aforementioned Salom is Red Bull KTM Ajo’s leading candidate heading to Mugello, as he sits second in the championship and 13 points in arrears of Maverick Viñales (Team Calvo). Non-finishers at Le Mans for the first time in their individual 2013 seasons, Khairuddin and Ajo lie sixth and 12^th, respectively.

zulfahmi to start from 15th.

Starting grid Zulfahmi untuk raceday esok bukan mengembarkan kemampuan sebenar beliau. QP dan FP hanya untuk menguji kemampuan jentera. Tapi perlumbaan sebenar barulah medan sebenar pertarungan skill dan siapa lebih kering hatinya. Redbull pasukan yang profesional, dan tak ada istilah sabotaj dalam MotoGP. Kita tunggu hari esok.

a note from fahmi

”The morning did not go badly at all. In the second session we tested new configurations with the bike, focusing on the rear shock, to see which path we had to follow. Later I suffered a crash on Turn 4, but I was lucky and escaped unscathed. I was able to ride again and was pushing to improve my time when it started to rain. Let’s see if it is good weather tomorrow; if it rains, I have to give everything to take the best grid position possible. I feel comfortable with the bike, so tomorrow I hope to place in the top ten —at least.”

Le Mans Moto3 News

Zulfahmi Khairuddin bersama Luis Salom membuat persediaan untuk esok bagi sesi latihan dan melihat rekod2 lama yang mereka memperolehi di litar ini pada tahun yang lepas mencuba membuat rekod yang baru..

warming um

zulfahmi and arthur sissis relaxing after some exercise..

Red Bull KTM Ajo ready for Le Mans after Almeria and Thalgau training

The Moto3 World Championship continues its route through Europe and this week it is the turn of the Grand Prix of France –the fourth event of the year– to take centre stage. The Red Bull KTM Ajo team heads to the historic Bugatti circuit of Le Mans after some very distinct preparation: Luis Salom has been testing on track in Almeria, whilst Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Arthur Sissis have made a trip to the Red Bull Diagnostics and Training Center (DTC) in Austria.

The Spanish rider’s workload with his KTM Moto3 machine did not finish on the Sunday of the Grand Prix of Spain. Salom, second in the Moto3 class, went to Almeria to participate in a private test last week. He finished the trip satisfied with new parts tested in preparation for the upcoming races. In the first of these, this weekend at Le Mans, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider will be looking to make amends for a DNF last year.

Whilst Salom was hard at work in his homeland, Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Arthur Sissis were also keeping busy. The duo took a trip to Thalgau in Austria, visiting the Red Bull Diagnostics and Traning Center (DTC) facility that provides innovative personalised training programmes for Red Bull athletes –based on their physical and psychological characteristics. This was the first time that Zulfahmi Khairuddin had participated in a week of training and medical tests, but Sissis is a relative veteran of the procedures.

Weekend weather forecasts for Le Mans predict another wet French GP.

Circuit information – Le Mans Circuit
Length: 4.180 metres / 2,597 miles
Width: 13 metres
Left corners: 5
Right corners: 9
Longest straight: 674 metres / 0,419 miles
Constructed: 1966
Modified: 2008

Luis Salom,
”I’m happy with the work we did last week with KTM in Almeria. We tested different aspects of the bike and were able to analyse different options. The result was very positive and the feeling on the bike is very good. Le Mans is a very nice circuit, but it rains a lot there. The grip is excellent in the dry, but when it rains that disappears completely. Also, it is always cold there and the track temperature is very low. In any case, we are all facing the same conditions, so we have to adapt to them. It will be a very difficult race. I have ridden very little in the wet with the KTM –just a few laps in testing. If the weather doesn’t favour us, then we will have to make the most of the entire weekend.”

Arthur Sissis,
”I come to this Grand Prix after an intense week of work in Austria alongside Fahmi [Zulfahmi Khairuddin]. I’ve also had some time to unwind by playing golf or hiking. That has been a good way to prepare for this Grand Prix. Hopefully this year the weather is good for us. Last season we did not have many dry sessions, and the track was slippery in the wet. In such conditions, the track isn’t really to my liking. if we are lucky and don’t have rain, however, is a really nice circuit. It has some corners with an interesting camber and some very fast corners as well; I like it. I have pretty good memories of Le Mans, even though we never rode here in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, as last season I placed fifth in the wet.”

Zulfahmi Khairuddin,
”This past week I was with Arthur [Sissis] in Austria at the Red Bull DTC. It’s the first time I had been and I was impressed with my time there. Le Mans is a bit of a special track, because it doesn’t have many corners –and those that it has are either very closed or very fast. Last year I performed strongly in the French Grand Prix and I hope that this week I can do likewise from Friday onwards. We must try to get some good practice and qualifying sessions in order to have more of a chance in the race. We’ll see if we’re lucky and the weather helps us.”

Ajo Boyz

"Ajo Boys"
- Next Stop Le Mans 17-19 Mei 2013!!!!!!!..... #mmm
#31 Niklas Ajo #61 Arthur Sissis #63 Zulfahmi #39 Luis Salom