World champion Vincent sacked by KTM.

In something of a shock announcement, 125cc GP newcomers KTM have announced that they have sacked reigning series champion Arnaud Vincent and replaced him with young Finn Mika Kallio.

Vincent signed for the Red Bull sponsored team after clinching his first world title with Aprilia, partnering former 125 champ Roberto Locatelli in the Austrian marques debut season.

Indeed, while Vincent has often struggled to make the top ten, he has easily outpaced Locatelli making his departure a surprise. The implication given by the team for the Frenchman's dismissal is that he was unrealistic about what could achieved this year - although he rarely publicly voiced such criticism.

"KTM decided to make this rider change due to the lack of progress in the team's development," read a team statement. "KTM feels that the new motorcycle is progressing well but the improvements have not been shown in the results. KTM hopes that a new rider will bring fresh motivation to the team and that the bike shows it's true potential during the next races.

"Arnaud Vincent will be released immediately from his KTM contract. KTM acknowledges that Arnaud Vincent remains a very fast and experienced rider, but it has been very difficult to develop a brand new motorcycle around the expectations of the current World Champion."

Meanwhile, Honda mounted Kallio has been immediately released from his contract with the AJO Motorsports team and so will take Vincent's seat from the next round at Brno on August 17th.

"With the team of Mika Kallio and Roberto Locatelli KTM will strive to build on the top 10 results already achieved during 2003, with the aim of being competitive for podium places in 2004," concluded the statement.

Vincent is yet to announce his future plans.