This weekend see’s the first visit to the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit. The new venue will play host to the second round of the 2022 MotoGP™ World Championship at the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia.
Opened on 12 November 2021 and located in the south of the Indonesian island of Lombok, the relatively short 4.3 kilometres (2.68 miles) but fast Mandalika circuit has six left-hand and 11 right-hand corners, along with a short straight of 507m (1,663 ft. The flowing layout of the circuit, with only Turns 1 and 10 needing very hard braking, may not give the more powerful machines the advantage that they enjoy at some other circuits, and this more even playing field should make for some very exciting racing, with a beautiful backdrop of the Indian Ocean.
The last time motorcycle Grand Prix racing took place in Indonesia was in 1997 at the Sentul International Circuit, and the last time a street circuit was used for a Grand Prix was in 1986 at the Brno Grand Prix.
With data from the test days, the Michelin allocation for the Mandalika race weekend will be Soft, Medium and Hard Michelin Power Slicks, with one additional Hard front option, and the front tyres will all be symmetric. For the rear tyres, there will be the usual three options which will all be asymmetric, with a harder compound on the right-hand side. However, as this is the rainy season in the region, Michelin Power Rain tyres in Soft and Medium compounds will also be available.
Looking ahead to the weekend’s race, Piero Taramasso, Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Manager, said: “The test days here were very positive from a tyre perspective, but we quickly realised that because of a combination of the new track surface, the fast layout and the high temperatures, that the tyres were being stressed too much and overheating. As a result, we have modified the allocation for the race weekend – we will keep the same compounds that during the test gave very good grip levels and consistency, but we have put them on special casings that are designed to control the temperatures more effectively. With these solutions I feel more confident for the race, and the fact that the track has been resurfaced again, should also help”.
The weekend’s action will begin with the first and second Free Practice sessions on Friday, followed by FP3 and FP4, plus the two Qualifying sessions on Saturday. On Sunday 20 March, the riders will take to the track for the 27-lap race, which is scheduled to start at 15:00 local time.
