History
Mika Kallio was interested in motorcycles already as a child. His father Hannu was a top-level rider, and it was this influence that got him excited about to ride motorcycle. At the age 12 Mika tried an iceracing bike for the first time, and at the age 14 he competed and won immediately in a Road Racing race.
Kallio won the Road Racing 125cc Finnish Championship for two consecutive years and also ice racing bike titles before taking fifth overall in the European Championship in 2001. The same year he made his GP debut in Germany and earned a full time ride with the Ajo Motorsport team for the next season, in which he was the Rookie of the Year with 11th overall.
In 2003 he took again 11th in the Championship and took also his first podium by taking second at Sepang. One dream came true in mid-way trough the season, when Mika joined the new Red Bull KTM team as a factory rider.
Two years of success with KTM in 125cc gave him two silver medals in both 2005 and 2006.
In 2007 Kallio moved up to 250cc with the Austrian team. He achieved two victories and two pole positions and was 7th in the Championship. Next season Mika won bronze medal and took three more victories with KTM.
In 2009 his dream came true, when he signed a contract with Pramac Racing Team in the premier class, MotoGP. Mika was Rookie of the Year in 2009, but next season was more difficult with a shoulder injury. His best race results for both years in MotoGP were 7th positions.
In 2011 Mika moved down to Moto2-class and joined Belgian Marc VDS Racing Team. At the same year he returned to podium also after three years. Since 2011 Kallio has renewd his contract with Marc VDS Racing Team every year and 2014 will be his fourth season with the Belgian team.
