MotoGP™ Riders | Profiles | Stats & Results (2024)

Kallio's career got off to a successful start in his native Finland where he won the national 125 title for three consecutive seasons, also being crowned national ice racing champion. In 2001 he made his debut in the World Championship as a wildcard, riding a full season the next year for Ajo Motorsport and taking 125cc Rookie of the Year with 11th. Runner-up spot in 2005 and 2006 led to a switch to the 250s, with third place in 2008 earning him a premier class ride for 2009 with Pramac in which he took Rookie of the Year, also filling in for Casey Stoner on the factory Ducati team for three races, but a difficult second season in 2010 led to a step down to Moto2 for 2011. After a tough start to the campaign Kallio's season picked up in the final third and he rounded the year off with a second place podium in Valencia. In 2012 he scored one podium but suffered a few disappointments, despite being almost continuously with the leading group. A first Moto2 victory finally came his way in 2013, in the Czech Republic, and Kallio became a title contender as he pushed his colleague Tito Rabat hard in 2014. Over the course of the year Kallio notched up an impressive 10 podiums and 3 wins and he hopes to be just as competitive having moved to Italtrans Racing Team for 2015. Ahead of the Aragon GP, Kallio and Italtrans parted company and the Finn joined the QMMF team to help continued development on the Speed Up. This season, Kallio has been a Test Rider for the new Red Bull KTM Factory Racing effort. As the Austrian manufacturer prepares to line up full time on the MotoGP™ grid in 2017, Kallio will first ride as a wild card in the 2016 season finale in Valencia - the first race experience for the all-new RC16.