Motorcycle World Championship moves eastwards for the Indonesian Grand Prix

A long final rush of the season in Asia-Pacific begins with Indonesia

“The Indonesian Grand Prix kicks off a long series of races in the Asia-Pacific region that will see us engaged for a month and a half in a row. A great commitment from a logistical point of view, for the handling of motorcycles, tyres, and all the material necessary for the races, as well as human, for the people who work in the paddock. We have already raced in Mandalika, on the island of Lombok, with the World Superbike riders in the past three seasons, so it is a circuit that we know well, and we have a lot of information and references to base ourselves on. From a technical point of view, tyre performance can be greatly influenced by asphalt temperatures: when they are lower it is possible to notice tearing on both axles, more pronounced on the right side, while with higher temperatures the phenomenon tends to disappear. In general, however, it is a track that engages the front more than the rear, which is why for Moto2™ we have decided to add a hard front compound, the SC3, to the allocation, useful in case the temperatures are lower, while in the heat the soft SC1 should be favoured. As for the rear, in the past in WorldSBK races the soft SC0 solution has been by far the most used and with excellent performance results; therefore, we expect the same thing to happen in Moto2™ while Moto3™will be able to focus on the SC1 as a softer solution if conditions allow. Afterwards we will go directly to Japan and then, after a week’s break, there will be the final triple-header with Australia, Thailand and Malaysia before the grand finale in Valencia”.

· More tyres per each compound: Compared to this season’s standard allocation for each rider, in both classes the number of tyres per compound increases by at least one unit, in some cases by two. In Moto2™, both the rear SC0 (soft) and SC1 (medium) and the front SC1 (soft) and SC2 (medium) go from 6 to 8 units each, in addition to the 4 additional tyres in hard SC3 compound for the front. In terms of regulations, having an extra front solution, the riders will be able to use up to 9 front tyres (instead of 8) and as many rear tyres over the weekend, for a total of 18 tyres. In Moto3™ there are 7 fronts for each of the two compounds (SC1 and SC2) instead of 6, the rears also increase by one unit from 6 to 7. The number of tyres that can be used over the weekend by each rider remains unchanged, 8 front and 9 rear.

· An exotic circuit: 4300 metre long, the Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit is located on the south coast of the island of Lombok, Indonesia, and is located a few metres from the sea. It features a total of 17 corners, 6 right and 11 left, with the longest straight measuring 723 metres. It is one of the newest circuits on the calendar, it was in fact built in 2021 and then resurfaced in 2022 to also improve drainage in case of rain. This is the third time it hosts the World Championship.
 
· Temperatures: At this time of year, the weather is quite hot and humid, with maximum air temperatures hovering around 30 degrees. As a result, asphalt temperatures are usually very high, especially in the hottest hours of the day. Last year, for example, the Moto2™ and Moto3™ races were held with 60° Celsius of asphalt temperature.