KTM France boss understands replacement of Zarco by Kallio

For Eric Antunes, the suspension of Johann Zarco in favor of Mika Kallio is not really surprising. The boss of KTM France speaks publicly about this "layoff" until the end of the season. Explanations.

Yesterday afternoon, made a lot of noise in the small world of French motorcycle speed fans, annoyed to learn that Johann Zarco had just disputed his and that he would no longer drive until the end of the season … But for Eric Antunes, "the replacement of Johann by Mika is a half-surprise in itself".

• MNC of September 7, 2019 :
• MNC special file :
• MNC Premium of May 9, 2019 :

"KTM must continue its development of the motorcycle and Johann did not seem to be the person to continue this development", specifies the big boss of the Orange brand in France, whose outspokenness – – is always a pleasure to hear among the hectares of language of wood that generally surround communication and particularly motorcycle communication.

"It is therefore normal, even if I am disappointed with this turn of events, that KTM prefers Mika to continue the development of the bike in race configuration", continues Eric Antunes on his Facebook page, recalling that "since the beginning of the adventure, Johann is not happy to ride this bike despite progress on the last few races. We and KTM are here to move forward and to have results. It is racing and high level competition. Human is therefore a variable that must be taken into account but which cannot be a sticking point. Johann made a courageous decision by wishing to quit before the end of his contract and KTM accepted knowing that there was no free driver before the end of 2020 . It was also a risk but had to be taken. Johann is a driver that I appreciate and I wish him to bounce back very quickly and to find the pleasure of driving that he needs. He will nevertheless have to wait until the end of the season. for that and it is understandable e according to the agreements made between him and KTM ".

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