Hope you are enjoying these behind the scenes from the beginning of the season.
What a crazy start to the year. Massive thanks for all the feedback & comments on lasts weeks episodes. We’re trying to keep this as real as possible … It’s …
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The world is celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8th and the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is no exception to this. To mark this day and to celebrate some of the incredible women who work within the paddock, Midori Moriwaki, Team Principal at the PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team discussed her career path to leading a WorldSBK team and how she is aiming to pave the way for the next generation to come through.
Moriwaki’s current role is Team Principal of the only satellite Honda team on the 2023 WorldSBK grid, running with riders Hafizh Syahrin and Eric Granado while the team have recently expanded into WorldSSP with the PETRONAS MIE MS Racing HONDA Team with Tarran Mackeznie and Adam Norrodin. Prior to that, she had been involved in the MotoGP™ paddock as well as with the Moriwaki Junior Cup.
Explaining her career path, Moriwaki said: “I am the third generation in a motorsport family. First is Yoshimura and second is Moriwaki which is my parents. My grandfather is Pops Yoshimura. I am the third generation. My background is engineering. I have worked in Australia and America and after that I had 21 years of working in Moriwaki engineering which is my parents’ company. I managed the MotoGP™ teams for Moriwaki and the Moto2™ project and the junior cup. Also, developing new technologies together with our engineers and also running a racing team. I have lots of academy projects and educational projects for engineering worldwide, especially in Asia and some other countries.”
One thing Moriwaki emphasises is her desire to help the next generation of women come through into the paddock, with the Team Principal giving advice to women looking to break into the motorsport industry and make a career for themselves. Expanding on this, she said: “This is not only for young women, but for any person. As a human, living in this life and this world is not only motorsport but the general world is not easy. Many critical things happen. To live this difficult life, or change your life to become positive, find a vision and then yourself. Not somebody else who makes it. Trust yourself and if you’re having a hard time, don’t push yourself too hard. Stay calm, wait a moment and then keep going. Life is like time. One second, one hour, one day, one year, two years… the time never stops which means life never stops. Don’t forget your vision or what you want to achieve. If you trust yourself, time will come and find away.
“I never think I am proud of myself because I just do what I believe. What I try to do is make a foundation for the next generation, not for myself. I have been in motorsport for a very long time, this year is 28 years, myself and the whole family is 70 years of history. We have seen good times and bad times in motorsport. The next generation is always key, not today. I see it for the future. I’m always looking at what I can do for motorsport and what legacy I can leave.”
The number of women in motorsport continues to grow and in vastly different roles, from press officers to mechanics, engineers and senior positions such as team principals. Moriwaki discussed whether she felt this is something that would continue in motorsport and also whether it would become easier for women to get into motorsport in whatever role they would pursue.
She said: “I think the presence of women in motorsport will continue to grow. There are a lot of women who are already making a good career. Young people can follow them who have already walked through. Like I did last year with the Moto3™ women’s team wildcard, Maria Herrera rode, and the team manager was an Italian girl, Aurora Angelucci. I supported her how to think and what you need to prepare, coaching her how to be the team principal and also what she needs to be targeting. I wanted to give my hands-on experience to women who want to be in this support. I think it’ll be much easier.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com
A four-year win drought ended for Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) in the FIM Supersport World Championship when he claimed victory in Race 2 during the Motul Indonesian Round at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit. Caricasulo’s win did not come easy after he was involved in a last-lap fight in Indonesia as he took his first win since September 2019 when he at Portimao, while it was also his first win with Ducati machinery.
Caricasulo made a return to WorldSSP in 2021 although he moved around teams in that season as he searched for the best possible results. In 2022, he made the switch to Althea Racing as Ducati returned to the Championship and was competitive throughout the season, taking two pole positions and five podium finishes. He remained with the team for 2023 and the continuity paid off for both Caricasulo and Althea Racing with victory in Race 2 at Mandalika.
Italian rider Caricasulo was running in the podium places throughout the 18-lap race with Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), with Oncu leading the race from Lap 3 until Lap 13 when Manzi overtook him. It looked like Manzi would go on to take his first Yamaha win but Caricasulo got by Oncu on Lap 14 and closed the gap to Manzi over the final few laps. The race-winning overtake came on the final lap at Turn 10 as Caricasulo took his first win since 2019.
The win also meant Ducati equalled their best-ever WorldSSP season in terms of race victories with three this year, matching the total from 2000, with Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) winning the first two races in Australia. Caricasulo’s win was his first in 68 races while he also took his 29th podium, putting him level with 2017 Champion Lucas Mahias.
Reacting to his incredible victory, Caricasulo said: “I’m super happy because I think my team did a very good job with me and my bike. From Saturday, it was not easy to improve the bike because sometimes we can maybe be faster but also slower too. The bike was better on Sunday. My front tyre was better for the whole race. I was thinking only about riding and not managing the tyres. I’m really, really happy. It was really difficult because the temperature was super-hot. We had to push 100% for 18 laps so it was really, really difficult. In the end, it looked like I had a little bit more than Manzi in front of me. On the last lap, I tried, and it was okay and perfect for today.”
Caricasulo also discussed his battle with Manzi which went down to the final lap. Manzi had started from tenth on the grid but found his way to the front of the field before being overtaken by Caricasulo at Turn 10. Discussing the fight, Caricasulo said: “In the beginning of the race, I lost time in sector two in the fast corners. During the race, I learnt to be better in this sector. On the last lap, I gave my 100% in this sector to overtake Manzi there in the braking after. In the last two sectors, I felt stronger throughout the race. I overtook him and then I pushed during the last two sectors.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com
A stunning 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship has just seen chapter two of the season signed into history, with ten rounds remaining. The Motul Indonesian Round at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit has provided more history as it welcomed WorldSBK action for a third season. From major milestones to bad form and plenty more, this week’s stats round-up reveals all.
397/128 – Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) became the 128th rider in WorldSBK to achieve a podium with third in Race 2. He gave Honda a 397th in their WorldSBK history.
110 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) gave Yamaha their 110th win during the Tissot Superpole Race.
87 –Razgatlioglu took his 87th podium in World Superbike after Race 2, level with Aaron Slight in eighth in the overall rankings.
60 – Alvaro Bautista took his 60th podium with Ducati, now with the same as Troy Corser.
51 – Continuing his strongest start to a WorldSBK campaign, Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) has 51 points. He is top Independent and for the first time in his career, is inside the top four in the standings.
47 – Ducati won at Mandalika for the first time in Race 1, making it the 47th circuit they’ve won at.
34 – Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) gave Kawasaki their first dry weather podium of the year, the 34th in his career. He’s now one behind Ruben Xaus, Michel Fabrizio and Eugene Laverty.
33 – Razgatlioglu took his 33rd win in the Superpole Race, levelling with Troy Corser in seventh overall. Next up is Tom Sykes in sixth place with 34.
25/10 – Taking pole at Mandalika, it was a 25th front row of his career for Toprak Razgatlioglu, making it three consecutive poles at the Indonesian circuit. It was also the 2021 World Champion’s tenth pole position, now level with Carlos Checa and Pierfrancesco Chili.
13 – 13 years after the last occurrence, Yamaha achieved a 1-2 in Superpole. It was Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland back in 2010 at Kyalami.
11 – With Razgatlioglu winning ahead of teammate Andrea Locatelli in the Superpole Race, it was the 11th Yamaha 1-2 in WorldSBK, the first since Donington Park Race 2 2021 – Razgatlioglu and Garrett Gerloff.
5 – Five races without a podium for Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), his worst streak with Kawasaki and his worst streak since Donington Park Race 1 to Portimao Race 1, 2014.
3 – The Italian riders lock-out the podium in WorldSSP for the third time in history: in Race 2, Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) was ahead of Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) and Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team).
1 – The first race win in WorldSSP for Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), the fourth-youngest winner in WorldSSP after Andy Verdoia, Manuel Gonzalez and Yoann Tiberio.
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Source: WorldSBK.com
A new name stepped onto the top step of the FIM Supersport World Championship podium at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit with Turkish star Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) claiming his first victory in the Championship in tricky conditions during Race 1 of the Motul Indonesian Round. It was Oncu’s 65th race in WorldSSP when he claimed his first victory as he took his tally to 13 podiums in the Championship.
Race 1 in Indonesia was held in difficult conditions with a rain shower just before the start of the 18-lap race, but every rider opted to race on Pirelli’s slick tyres and, with the rain abating shortly after this proved to be the correct decision. Oncu started from third place but quickly leapt into the lead of the race on the opening lap and, by lap 5, his gap to the chasing pack had been extended to over a second as he took advantage of their squabbling behind him.
From that point, Oncu was able to manage his race while still extending the gap to the riders behind him as he claimed victory by more than three second at the end of the race ahead of Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) in second and Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) in third place. Oncu’s victory was the 44th win for Turkey while he also became the fourth-youngest winner in the Championship, behind Andy Verdoia, Manuel Gonzalez and Yoann Tiberio.
An emotional Oncu, after Race 1, said: “I’m so happy and I don’t know what to say! Phillip Island was really difficult. We came here and on Friday we didn’t have good pace. We said we would just for it. Today, we did it. It’s incredible. I want to say thanks to Kenan. Before the race, after the race, and on Friday evening, he called me and said ‘Can, you have to do it!’. I’m so happy. Thanks to Kenan, thanks to Puccetti Racing, thanks to Kawasaki. I did it!
“In the first laps, I made a gap of one second and I tried to be consistent and not make mistakes. To be honest, I was not pushing over the limit because I was thinking that every time I did, I finished the tyre and this time I have to not finish it. During the whole race, I was not at 100%, I was at a normal pace. If I needed more, I could go a little faster. I was so comfortable with my bike. My dream was, every time, to win a race and I did it.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com
After two incredible rounds of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship have been completed following on from the Motul Indonesian Round at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit, only one rider has taken six top-five finishes out of six races so far in 2023. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) has three podiums and six top-five finishes to his name so far this season after a strong start to his 2023 campaign.
Locatelli ended the 2022 campaign on the front foot after some disappointing results over the middle part of the season, taking a podium at Mandalika last year and three top-five finishes at Phillip Island. He started 2023 in the same way in Australia as he took fourth in Race 1, fifth in the Tissot Superpole Race and his first podium of the season, with third, in Race 2. His results in Australia moved him into second in the Championship standings, the first time he had been in that position.
As WorldSBK headed to Mandalika for round two of 2023, Locatelli continued his fine form with third in Race 1 and second in the Tissot Superpole Race as he finished behind teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu. It marked the first time the pair had finished 1-2 for Pata Yamaha as they head into their third season together as teammates. Fifth in Race 2 meant he was unable to make it four podiums on the bounce but Locatelli’s three podiums in six races means he’s already surpassed his total from last season, while it is also the first time he has recorded three consecutive podium finishes in WorldSBK having finished on the podium from Australia Race 2 to the Superpole Race at Mandalika.
Reacting to his weekend, Locatelli said: “It was another great weekend and a really positive weekend because we got two podiums. Unfortunately, in Race 2, we lost this opportunity because I started further back after the red flag. In general, I’m really happy because we were fast. We showed our speed and we got a lot of good results. I think we need to be proud of myself and also for the team, because we worked really well during the weekend. The team gave me a really good bike to push with and stay at the front. Basically, we need to be happy because we worked really well and didn’t make a mistake. We need to look forward and try for a little bit more, and I need to learn things from this weekend and Phillip Island. It’s just the second round but we started in a really good way. We will see what happens during the season, but we are ready to fight.”
The Italian also looked back on his season as a whole after his strong start to the campaign, with Locatelli third in the standings and only five points behind teammate Razgatlioglu after two rounds. He said: “It was important. After the winter tests, we knew that we needed to try and start in a good way. I could never have imagined starting like this! When we saw that the opportunity was there to try and stay at the front every race, we tried to do this. We are really happy because we’re working really well. We were fast from Phillip Island and this is a great way to start the season. We need to learn something from Race 2. I went wide at Turn 12, so I lost a lot of positions and it put us further back. I think, in the end, it was a positive weekend.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com
The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship has completed two rounds from 12 so far and already, there’re major stories and question marks. As is normal after each round, we’ve got our ears to the ground to get all the insight from the stars of the show, with new riders making a name for themselves as well as Championship contenders making bold claims in this week’s hot headlines.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK): “Jonny will come back very strong… we need to fight Ducati and I need him; I need some help”
Looking ahead to the next round after scoring more points than anyone else at Mandalika, Toprak Razgatlioglu assessed arch-rival Jonathan Rea’s (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) start to 2023: “I hope that this year at Assen, we are focused on the race with Jonny, and I hope that we don’t crash! We need a good position, especially Jonny. For Jonny, it’s not been an easy weekend and I think it’s a similar problem. His front tyre dropped a lot like in Race 1, but in the hot conditions, the Kawasaki doesn’t work well. Jonny is still very strong, and I believe he will come back very strong, especially at Assen. We’ll see, we need to fight Ducati and I need him; I need some help. Locatelli’s first two weekends are very strong and maybe we’re fighting Ducati together.”
Xavi Vierge (Team HRC): “I have the level to fight for the Championship, I’ll work so hard to do that with Honda”
Speaking after his first WorldSBK podium, Xavi Vierge was ecstatic on Sunday: “I have no words right now! We’ve fought so hard for this since the first day I jumped on the bike, but it hasn’t been easy. It looks like we’ve made a step forward; the reality is that I think we are getting closer, and I hope we can continue working in that direction to always be inside the top six. As a rider, you always need to think that you are the best; if not, you start off already losing. It’s true that in this world, it is easy to lose that if the results aren’t coming. Unfortunately, in my career, there are some really good moments but then followed by really bad moments, and I didn’t understand why. I tried to keep all the experience from all the years to then take the maximum. I think I have the level to fight for the Championship and I will work so hard to do that with Honda.”
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “If I was on my own, then I wouldn’t crash”
Still the Championship leader, Alvaro Bautista discussed his Turn 12 crash in the Superpole Race: “I entered to Turn 12, and Jonathan got the inside. Both of us wanted to go on the good line and then we both went off the line! I tried to pick up the bike and be smooth with the gas, but I just touched it a bit and then I lost the rear. Jonathan was the same! I think at another circuit, I wouldn’t crash. If I was on my own, then I wouldn’t crash, but it was a normal manoeuvre. The problem is that when you have a thin racing line and both of you want the same bit of track, it’s impossible. I don’t want to just let him pass, I wanted to stay! He wanted to stay, we touched a little bit, and I crash. It was a good overtake, aggressive but I didn’t crash because of that, I crashed because I was off the line.”
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK): “Very difficult weekend with not so many positives… I was riding over my head”
With just 13 points scored over the weekend, it was another tough weekend for Jonathan Rea: “It has been a very difficult weekend, with not so many positives. We, step-by-step, found a better direction. The track here in Mandalika has been quite inconsistent from Friday, when the grip level was really low, but we understood on race day that the grip level was incredibly high. So, we never nailed the setup perfectly, but I felt that we got better. In the races I felt my rhythm was OK but unfortunately in the Superpole Race I found some traffic in front. I am frustrated and I found it very difficult to pass anyone on acceleration or on the brakes. I was riding over my head sometimes on the brakes and in the corners trying to stay with the group.”
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team): “He ruined the race of Baz and for me…”
A strong weekend for rookie Danilo Petrucci, who outlined his podium target, but also aired thoughts on Alex Lowes, following the pair’s collision in the Superpole Race: “I’m really happy, I didn’t expect to be so fast, especially with the lap times. In Race 2, I didn’t change the tyre as I was feeling confident. I am happy for the team as now, we’re back in parc ferme. I said after Race 1 that I was happy but not completely satisfied as our target is to stand on the podium. I think we have this potential. In the Superpole Race, it’s like going bumper car racing! I don’t understand the behaviour of Lowes… in the first start, he ruined the race of Baz and for me, and then we had a red flag. I was in front and from the images and from race direction, they said that he made a mistake. He hit me from behind and destroyed my exhaust. It’s not OK to justify a mistake; it’s the first lap but you ruin a race of two other riders.”
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) “When I saw the red flag at 2.5s, I said ‘f**k’… I need to be smarter”
A great shame for Michael Ruben Rinaldi on Sunday as a podium went begging, but a clear step has been made by the Italian: “Since Friday, with a new front tyre, I do some laps and then it drops, and I can’t ride. This is what happened in Race 2. When I restarted the race, not everyone has a new tyre, so at the beginning, I felt OK with the bike, and I pushed and gained 1.5s. Then, I couldn’t push anymore as I had no grip; Alvaro arrived and passed me, so on the last lap, I just tried not to crash. On the exit of Turn 8, my bike shook a lot and I looked at the handlebar to try and control it but then I looked ahead, and I missed the braking point. It’s a shame. When I saw the red flag at 2.5s, I said ‘f**k’, because I knew the problem I’d face. When the race restarted, I felt good but in the last four laps, I didn’t have a card to play. The speed is there but we need to work a little bit better, and I need to not make mistakes; I need to be smarter.”
Andrea Locatelli: (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) “We didn’t need to do anything crazy; he tried and basically destroyed my race”
Third the Championship and the only rider to finish in the top five in every race this season, Andrea Locatelli spoke about Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) in Race 2: “In the second restart, we started from P7. The problem was that in the first part of the race, after I overtook Toprak, Bassani took me out wide at Turn 12 and I lost a lot of positions. This was a bit wrong. We got two podiums though, so we need to be proud. I think he needs to be calmer as it was just the second lap. I was fast and I had a good feeling. I think he can try to stay behind me, follow me and then, we have 21 laps… it’s important to start well and I was in P1, and he was in P2. I thought we didn’t need to do anything crazy, but he tried and basically destroyed my race a little bit.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com
The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship paddock descended on the stunning island of Lombok for the 2023 Motul Indonesian Round and the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit and it was a round that delivered more drama, more excitement and more twists and turns in the 2023 season. The Indonesian venue provided some stunning scenery as well as incredible action on track and this combination led to some incredible photos being taken. Check out the best photos from a dramatic round in Indonesia at the top of this article!
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Source: WorldSBK.com
As with every MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship round, there was drama throughout, and the Motul Indonesian Round was no exception at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit. Crashes, first wins of 2023 and much more featured in Indonesia as the second round of the 2023 concluded and here we take a look at some of the ups and downs throughout the Indonesian Round, from the first-time winners in 2023, new podium finishers and struggles for some.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) kickstarted his title challenge with victory in the Tissot Superpole Race, while he was on the podium in both Race 1 and Race 2 as he closed the gap on Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in the title fight and moved into second place in the Championship standings ahead of teammate Andrea Locatelli. Razgatlioglu fought for the win in the early stages of Race 1 but dropped to second before responding in Sunday’s shortened Superpole Race and then taking second again in Race 2.
Race 2 also featured a new face on the podium in WorldSBK as Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) climbed onto the rostrum with third place, benefitting from an error from Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) on the final lap of the restarted race. Vierge became the 128th rider to claim a podium in WorldSBK history with his third-place finish and it was also Honda’s first since teammate Iker Lecuona claimed third at Assen in 2022. Vierge’s podium means four manufacturers – Ducati, Yamaha, Honda and Kawasaki – all stood on the podium for the first time since 2021.
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) enjoyed his best WorldSBK round so far as he claimed his first top-five finish in Race 1 on Saturday and he backed that up with sixth place in Race 2, where he also claimed top Independent honours Although he was tenth in the Superpole Race, it means Petrucci has record four-top ten finishes in his four full-length races so far in WorldSBK as he looks to fight for podiums and wins in his maiden campaign.
Despite a massive Race 2 crash, Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) enjoyed a strong weekend. The Dutch rider claimed sixth in Race 1 and eighth in the Superpole Race after starting from tenth on the grid after he qualified as the fastest BMW rider. In Race 2, he was fighting to be in the top ten once again but had a huge highside coming out of Turn 11 which ended his race.
In terms of downs, it was another tough weekend for Kawasaki and riders Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and teammate Alex Lowes. Although Lowes scored their only podium of the weekend, he was involved in a Superpole Race crash with Petrucci and Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW). Later in the restarted Superpole Race, Lowes came together with Baz although Lowes could continue on his way to the podium. For Rea, he had an accident at Turn 2 in the Superpole Race which brought out the red flags while he also crashed at Turn 7 in Race 2. Also, in the Tissot Superpole session, Rea was given a three-place grid penalty for slow riding.
It was also a mixed weekend for Rinaldi during the weekend. He showed strong pace throughout but he was hampered by crashes at Turn 1 in Race 1, where he made contact with Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) and in Warm Up on Sunday morning. He was on course for second place in Race 2 but an error on the last lap meant he ran wide and dropped two positions to leave him in fourth place.
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Source: WorldSBK.com
As the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship paddock moved from Australia to Indonesia for the Motul Indonesian Round, one question being asked was whether Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) would be able to bounce back from a tricky season-opening round. At the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit, Rea had another difficult weekend as he scored only 13 points in three races including crashing out of Race 2 when running in the top five.
Rea was fourth in Friday’s Free Practice 2 session, the faster of the two Friday practice sessions, which also put him in the same position in the combined standings. In Saturday’s practice, he took sixth place in the standings before taking fifth place in the Tissot Superpole session although his best time was half-a-second down on polesitter Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK). Despite fifth in Superpole, Rea started Race 1 from eighth place after being given a three-place grid drop by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards for slow riding in Superpole.
The six-time Champion was unable to make progress and was classified in ninth place in Race 1, his worst finish since Race 1 at Magny-Cours last year. In the Superpole Race, starting from fifth, Rea took fourth place behind teammate Alex Lowes but this was also a complicated affair: the race was red flagged after Rea crashed at Turn 2 on Lap 2, a lap after Lowes, Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) and Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) had come together. The pair took to the restarted race from the original positions to take third and fourth.
In Race 2, Rea had been running in the top six in the restarted race and moved up to fifth after passing Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) on Lap 8. However, a lap later, Rea’s race came to an end when he crashed out at the high-speed Turn 7 after losing the front of his ZX-10RR machine. After the round’s action concluded, Rea elaborated on his Indonesian Round and what went wrong for him across the three days of action.
Rea said: “It has been a very difficult weekend, with not so many positives. We, step-by-step, found a better direction. The track here in Mandalika has been quite inconsistent from Friday, when the grip level was really low, but we understood on race day that the grip level was incredibly high. So, we never nailed the setup perfectly, but I felt that we got better. In the races I felt my rhythm was OK but unfortunately in the Superpole Race I found some traffic in front of me and it was very difficult to pass. But I felt my pace was quite good. In Race 2 I lost the front. Not exactly quite sure why, but it is quite windy in that area. I think the wind just picked the front up.
“I am frustrated, and I found it very difficult to pass anyone on acceleration or on the brakes. I was riding over my head sometimes on the brakes and in the corners trying to stay with the group. But we have to accept this tough weekend, try to learn from it and then put it behind us when we head back to Europe. We will have much more information now. So even as we are disappointed, we need to keep our heads up and keep fighting. I feel Assen is a great track to come back to with some strong results.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com