{"id":447207,"date":"2026-01-30T11:11:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T11:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/447207\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T11:11:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T11:11:14","slug":"is-ktms-mika-kallio-testing-in-850cc-spec-at-the-sepang-shakedown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/447207\/","title":{"rendered":"Is KTM\u2019s Mika Kallio testing in \u2018850cc spec\u2019 at the Sepang Shakedown?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mika Kallio was a surprise addition to KTM\u2019s Sepang MotoGP Shakedown line-up, returning to the RC16 alongside regular test riders Pol Espargaro and Dani Pedrosa.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, these images suggest Kallio was running without a ride-height or holeshot device.<\/p>\n<p>With ride-height systems set to be banned from the 2027 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/motogp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MotoGP<\/a> regulations, this immediately prompted speculation that the Finn could be testing at least some items for KTM\u2019s future 850cc machinery.<\/p>\n<p>Suspicions first emerged during practice starts at the end of day one. While Espargaro\u2019s 2026-spec RC16 lowered as usual, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/motogp\/racer\/1710\/mika-kallio\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mika Kallio<\/a> attempted a race start at a standard ride height, resulting in a wheelie:<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/3000_kallio1.jpg\"   type=\"image\/jpeg\" alt=\"Mika Kallio practice start, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown.\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.5\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Mika Kallio practice start, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/3000_pol1.jpg\"   type=\"image\/jpeg\" alt=\"Pol Espargaro practice start, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown.\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.5\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Pol Espargaro practice start, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown.<\/p>\n<p>      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/3000_kallio2.jpg\"   type=\"image\/jpeg\" alt=\"Mika Kallio practice start, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown.\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.5\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Mika Kallio practice start, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown.<\/p>\n<p>      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/3000_kallio3.jpg\"   type=\"image\/jpeg\" alt=\"Mika Kallio practice start wheelie, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown.\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.5\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Mika Kallio practice start wheelie, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown.<\/p>\n<p>Reviewing images from earlier in the day then showed that, on corner exit, Kallio\u2019s bike again appeared to remain at normal height, in contrast to Pedrosa\u2019s lowered RC16:<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/3000_gng_1287957_hires.jpg\"   type=\"image\/jpeg\" alt=\"Mika Kallio, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown.\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.5\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Mika Kallio, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/3000_pedrosa-action.jpg\"   type=\"image\/jpeg\" alt=\"Dani Pedrosa, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown.\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.5\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Dani Pedrosa, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown.<\/p>\n<p>Kallio then looks to have continued at \u2018normal height\u2019 during the start of day two:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/motogp\/teams\/red-bull-ktm-factory-racing\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">KTM<\/a> became the first manufacturer to run an 850cc MotoGP engine on track last December at Jerez, with Espargaro completing the initial outing.<\/p>\n<p>When asked by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Crash.net <\/a>whether Kallio had tested the 850cc engine during Thursday\u2019s shakedown running, KTM explained that Kallio was present primarily to assist with the workload of Espargaro and Pedrosa &#8211; but would also \u201ctest items that are in an earlier development stage that don\u2019t need an ultimate stress test\u201d.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>While no confirmation was given, the wording leaves open the possibility that those \u2018earlier development stage\u2019 items involve KTM\u2019s 2027 project.<\/p>\n<p>If the Finn is riding without a ride-height device &#8211; and either reduced engine power or an 850cc engine &#8211; it would also explain the 4-5 second lap time gap to the other KTMs.<\/p>\n<p>What is clear is that Kallio is still riding with Michelin tyres, rather than the Pirelli rubber to be introduced under the next-generation regulations.<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to our MotoGP Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mika Kallio was a surprise addition to KTM\u2019s Sepang MotoGP Shakedown line-up, returning to the RC16 alongside regular&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,6399,231753,806,805,803,804,10670,85],"class_list":["post-447207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-ktm","tag-mika-kallio","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-red-bull-ktm-factory-racing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}