The second day of testing carried out by MotoGP on the Mandalika track ended and the paddock was relieved to experience a moment a little more in tune with the reality of the Grands Prix. The day before, this was not really the case with a track soiled by sand, mud and strewn with stones that would kill the drivers and the machines. “This is perhaps the only track in the world where you can have an MXGP and MotoGP event at the same time,” the director of a renowned factory team said at the time. Is that why a KTM, a brand that has made its reputation in this sector and at the Dakar, sat at the top of the timesheet for hours this Saturday? But it was ultimately Luca Marini who made his opponents bite the dust.
The day began in a slightly more relaxed atmosphere than that of the day before, and which had deteriorated as much as the condition of the Indonesian track. The general feeling was thus expressed by the boss of the Honda LCR team Lucio Cecchinello : " we deliberately didn't change much on the bike, we wanted to wait for better track conditions “, explained the Italian in an interview with MotoGP journalist Simon Crafar. “ Conditions improved quite significantly Friday evening and again Saturday morning. The organizers also put a lot of effort into cleaning up during the night. The track continues to improve and this allows engineers to move forward with the testing work. On the other hand, when track conditions are bad, itThere's really no point in testing new parts. ».
Brad Binder then Luca Marini distinguished themselves in Mandalika
However, according to the MotoGP paddock, track conditions are only slightly better than at the end of yesterday. The ideal line is clean, but as soon as you deviate from it, you almost find yourself in the dirt. It is under such conditions that Luca marini finished this exercise in the lead with a time of 1'31.289. A performance to compare with the 1'32.466 signed by Pol Espargaro at the end of the first day in Indonesia. At the Superbike World Championship meeting in November 2021, Toprak Razgatlioglu took pole position in 1'32.877.
Marc Marquez follows while Maverick Vinales once again places an Aprilia at the forefront, pushing fabio quartararo out of the leading trio. Joan mir closes the top 5 while Johann Zarco, Pol Espargaro, Jorge Martin, Bagnaia et Brad Binder close the top 10. The disappointment comes from Jack Miller. The Ducati official on the coveted handlebars for 2023 is only 20th. Finally, the rookie Darryn binder ended his day in the gravel. He crashed at turn 12.
MotoGP Tests Mandalika J2 Final: times
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
