18 March 2022 – Pertamina Mandalika Circuit – Indonesia

As often happens on new tracks, the circuit this morning was not very clean and consequently the grip during free practice 1 was not the best. Moreover, the rain of the night has complicated everything and all the drivers of the line-up have achieved not very interesting times.

In the first session Ayumu became familiar with the track and in FP2, when the weather and track conditions were much better, he improved his chronometric reference. 1’41.322 is his best lap, obtained on the thirteenth of the fourteen laps completed, thanks to which he is fourth in the combined classification. For him a gap from the leader of the combined A. Surra of 0.362 s. Remember that in this race we are in reduced ranks, given the absence of John because of the injury.

Following the words of Ayumu and our Team Owner Max Biaggi.

AYUMU SASAKI : “I had a very good first day, I have been feeling good on the bike. FP1 was wet, but in FP2 we managed to ride in the dry and immediately I felt good on the bike and this was very good. We have some few things to improve tomorrow for the race, but I feel good on the bike, so that’s the main thing. Tomorrow FP3 is hopefully going to be dry so we can improve and have a great weekend.”

MAX BIAGGI – TEAM OWNER : “The times of this morning are not to be considered, since the track was half wet and above all still dirty, with a lot of sand on it. In the afternoon the session was faster and Sasaki immediately felt good familiarizing with the track. Free practice 3 will be important, although the race will be in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the little time will have to be spent not only to do the setup of the bike, but also to learn the new path. It is a double challenge for everyone, but we hope to do a good job.”