Red Bull KTM 250 star Mika Kallio and Repsol KTM 250 rider Julian Simon both start in the first row for Sunday's Grand Prix of Germany at the Sachsenring but both had an anxious moment in the final qualifying session just before the final flag went out.

Two minutes before the end and just as Simon had secured his second place, the Spaniard's front wheel slipped away. And while Simon was knocking the dust off his leathers there was another incident when Honda rider Wilairot crashed his motorcycle directly in front of the Kallio's front wheel. Just like Simon, fourth placed Kallio also stood up uninjured. The only handicap of the championship leader is a bruised thigh, which he incurred during a 238 km/h high speed crash while on a private test ride in Brno the week before.

Whereby Kallio and Simon have found perfect settings for their motorcycles and are hoping for fine weather for tomorrow's race, there is still a lot of work for Hiroshi Aoyama to do. Kallio's team-mate, who won the German Grand Prix in great style in 2007 only qualified in ninth place and has to be satisfied with a third line starting position.

Julian Simon (Repsol KTM 250 - second in 1:24.057)

"My front wheel slipped from under me just before the end of the session and I crashed. But apart from that little incident I am very satisfied with how the weekend is going. We were fast in all the training sessions, we're right up with the front riders and we have found a good set-up.

Naturally I am hoping that it goes just like this tomorrow and that we have dry conditions for the race so I can ride with the same rhythm as today. My goal is to be up with the front group right from the start and to be celebrating with a podium at the end of the day."

"Everything actually went very well in training. My feeling for the bike was even better than usual and I was continually able to put in very fast laps. It was only in the final 10 minutes of the qualifying that things did not go as we had planned. In the first place there was a lot of traffic and I wasn't able to improve on my time.

And then just as I was on my last flying lap and saw enough space around me Willairot crashed and brought me down with him. That was not very good for us but it could have been worse. We're in the front row, I didn't get injured and the bike's set up is good. We also know what tyres we will use. I just hope the weather stays the way it is and we can race in dry conditions!"

"Of course I wanted to be faster today and to be in the front row but we had a couple of little problems that cost me a few tenths of a second and this makes a big difference and can cost you places on this short circuit. But we don't put our head in the sand; we continue to work hard. We have another training session tomorrow morning and we have often turned things around just before the race. I remain optimistic!"

Harald Bartol (Technical Director)

"I am satisfied. We came out of things ok after the crashes of Kallio and Simon. My only concern is that Simoncelli looks extremely fast here. But even so, Mika can still go even faster when he doesn't get held up in traffic. Luckily he is really fit because the crash in Brno could have had worse consequences."

KTM riders in the 125cc class are expressing widespread optimism ahead of the 125 cc Grand Prix of Germany on Sunday being held at the famous Sachsenring with three of KTM's best in the top 10.

A new chassis which has been available to all seven KTM riders in the smallest engine category for several weeks now has proven to be especially good on the 3.671 km curving Sachsenring and three riders from three different KTM teams finished qualifying in the top ten.

ISPA KTM Aran racer Tomoyoshi Koyama, who fought his way to second place in last year's German GP qualified in seventh place in front of Raffaele de Rosa (Onde 2000 KTM) in place eight while Esteve Rabat (Repsol KTM 125) finished in tenth place.

Also Red Bull KTM factory rider Randy Krummenacher showed considerable improvement in qualifying with place 17, even if he was held back by a technical defect and had to finish the final session on the second bike. Despite that the Swiss teenager is confident that he can be up with the front riders in Sunday's race.

"The Sachsenring is my favourite circuit. Last year I was on the podium here in second place and also this year I have a very good feeling. Our setting is terrific and the new chassis that we got in England is especially good here. There'll certainly be a very exciting fight with a big group of riders and I naturally hope that I'll be among the front runners - and to fight for my first podium place for this season!"

"Yesterday I needed the slipstream of another rider for my time but today I managed to do the decisive lap on my own without having to refer to another rider so I'm very satisfied with my place. I could have even gone faster but I got stuck in traffic and it would have been too dangerous to go even faster. The bike is running perfectly, we have found good settings for the motor and the chassis and I am confident for the race tomorrow!"

"Yesterday we struggled a lot with the settings but for the final training today we found the right revs. The changes have been worth it and I had a great feeling on the bike right from the beginning. Unfortunately then there was a defect and I had to change over to the old bike which doesn't have as much power.

With that I was only two tenths of a second slower than with the number one bike. That showed me that I can certainly reach a lap time of 1:28.0 with the new bike and I'm competitive with the rest of the field. Unfortunately also late in the session the bracket on the fairing broke, so I had to settle for Place 17.

 That's certainly not the best for the start of the race. Nevertheless I'll give everything to be up with the front riders tomorrow. I can do it and I really want to be up with the best again!"

Harald Bartol, KTM Technical Director

As far as the 125s are concerned, not with our riders but rather generally I am somewhat disappointed. The MotoGP class and the 250s when compared to last year are significantly faster but not the 125s. Now we have to wait for the race and even tough Marc Marquez is back in nineteenth place he can certainly pull off a surprise. I am also happy that Koyama wants to go for a podium - I'm really curious about what will happen tomorrow!"

JD Beach combined excellent riding skill with capitalising on two spills by arch rival Luis Salom to steal victory at the Sachsenring in Germany and take the lead in the championship standings.

The American has a 15 point advantage but riders have to discount their worst score of the season. Salom, who fell twice on Saturday can drop this race and Beach can lose his eight points from Assen. This leaves a seven point advantage with two races at Brno to decide things.

Beach fought a battle of attrition coming in ahead of 13-year-old Japanese Daijiro Hiura and 17-year-old Briton Matthew Hoyle. Germany's Daniel Kartheininger, 15, was just 1.5 seconds off the winning pace for fourth place.

The four riders exchanged places throughout what was certainly an exciting the race. "I couldn't get away from the guys and then later in the race the bike was sliding around quite a lot and I was just keeping it together," said Beach. "I saw three laps to go and then the next time round it was one and I thought I'd better get going. I was in front and just put my head down. "

Hiura was happy enough with his second." It was a great race, I had a lot of work to do because I made a bad start but it was OK. I really tried to win but JD was so good in that last lap I just couldn't get close," he said. Hoyle on the other hand was frustrated with yet another minor podium place. But he does hold the lap record at Brno and was second there last season so his chances of a good result are high.

The race was a disappointment for Salom who has performed strongly throughout the season. He was taken out by Norwegian Sturla Fagerhaug who crashed in the first corner, rejoined the race but crashed again to register his first zero points of the season.

1. JD Beach, USA, KTM, 27:40.414

2. Daijiro Hiura, Japan, KTM, 27:40.615

3. Matthew Hoyle, Britain, KTM, 27:40.957

4. Daniel Kartheininger, Germany, KTM, 27:41.929

5. Nelson Major, France, KTM, 27:53.704

1. JD Beach 144 points

2. Luis Salom, Spain, 129

3. Sturla Fagerhaug, Norway, 97

4. Daijiro Hiura, Japan, 96

5. Nelson Major, France, 79

-KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG, Mattighofen-