Very high temperatures and a brand new track surface, very dirty in the morning, could sum up the first day of the FIM Superbike World Championship round on the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit in Indonesia.
After using FP1 mainly to familiarize yourself with the new asphalt of the Mandalika circuit, Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) saw his feeling with the Ducati Panigale V4R increase lap after lap during the second session, which allowed him to conclude his penultimate lap of FP2 with 462 thousandths of a second ahead of Toprak Razgatlioğlu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) under the eyes of Luigi Dall'Igna and Paolo Ciabatti.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) – P1: “ It's been a very strange day. In FP1 we literally tried to put rubber on the track because with the new asphalt the grip was non-existent. In the afternoon, things improved although I must say that the conditions are still not optimal: we only have a thin line of grip because the circuit is not yet perfectly cleared. In any case, we have collected a lot of data to try to improve further tomorrow. »
Toprak Razgatlioğlu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) – P2: “ This morning we started with a dirty track but by the afternoon we were feeling much better. The feeling with the bike is very good and I am ready to race. We tried different settings for the race, also did a good job and I am very happy with the racing simulation. I now look to tomorrow because it will be an important day for me. Now there is just a clean trajectory but not completely. But in the race it will not be easy to overtake because outside the trajectory is very dirty. I hope it doesn't rain tonight because otherwise I think tomorrow will start like today. It's not easy for all riders, and tire life is difficult to manage now, but we'll see. Now my plan is to have a good qualifying and a good race, I hope to fight for the victory. My goal this weekend is to get three wins, but the weather is always changing, so we are doing our best. »
Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) – P3: “ Overall, I can consider this Friday to be quite positive. In fact, we finished in third place on a circuit where I encountered several difficulties last year. I had a good lap, it's true, but we still need to improve the pace. In FP2 we managed to make an important step compared to the morning, but we will definitely need another one tomorrow to be able to fight for the podium. »
Jonathan Rhea (Kawasaki Racing Team) – P4: “ This morning the track was very dirty. And even in the afternoon I felt good on the line, in most areas, but some areas are critical. Aside from the trajectory, it was a nightmare. The settings we arrived with, given the level of grip we were going to face in FP1, were quite far from our base settings, balance and position wise. I didn't feel comfortable all day, even in the afternoon when the grip level increased. When you're uncomfortable and nervous, when the trajectory is very, very narrow, it's like walking a tightrope just looking at the rope. You have to be confident, look forward. We can see very clearly what I'm missing and we can see where to start on Saturday. »
Garrett gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) – P5: “ It's great that there is new asphalt on the track, but today we had to make sure we stayed on the line to avoid falling. In FP2 things went much better, but it was still difficult to drive. Overtaking will be difficult in the race because you have to go over the dirty part of the track and once you are there it is very easy to fall. Tire choice is really difficult, even the hardest compound gets destroyed, and I think after race 1 it will be clearer who made the right or wrong choice. »
WSBK Superbike Mandalika FP2: ranking
Classification credit: Worldsbk.com
