Thunderstorms and rain passed over the Pertamina Mandalika circuit on Friday morning, but for the MotoGP class both sessions were dry. This meant that Suzuki’s riders were able to spend FP1 reacquainting themselves with the layout and trying out the new surface.

Despite extra cleaning measures in place to regularly sweep the circuit before and between sessions, the track remained a little treacherous off-line due to dust and dirt.

Joan Mir and Alex Rins initially took it easy in FP1, but as they gained confidence and grip they were able to set about improving their lap times. They closed the morning in 10th and 17th respectively, with Rins showing nice pace in the fast and sweeping corners of sector 2.

FP2 saw a slight improvement in surface grip, and even higher track temperatures. With rain forecast for the remainder of the weekend, the focus was on Top 10 placement for both Suzuki riders.

Mir’s afternoon didn’t go to plan after he suffered a few bike issues which held him back. An initial time-attack push with around six minutes to go proved positive as Mir moved into fourth, but when going for his last fast laps he was caught by two yellow flags and had to accept 20th. Despite feeling unwell throughout the day, Rins impressed when switching to softer tyres, and a final big push moved him into a very useful 10th place.


Alex Rins:

“Today was a difficult day for me, I didn’t sleep much at all last night; I think only around four hours. For this didn’t feel right from a physical point of view, and I’m actually surprised that I managed to get into the Top 10. My FP2 session was quite nice, and with the softer tyres I had some better pace, but the yellow flags cost me in the end.”

Joan Mir:

“Today’s FP2 was tough, we had some minor mechanical issues which meant that I couldn’t tie everything together. I started to feel better with the bike at the end of the session, I had a soft tyre and I was getting faster, in fact I felt pretty good with those tyres, but I got caught by the yellow flags and lost my laps. The day didn’t go as I expected, but we still have time to fix the bike and improve our pace, it won’t be easy because rain is coming, but we won’t give up and we feel optimistic.”

Livio Suppo - Team Manager:

“It’s been a relatively good day in the office, let’s say. The first positive thing is that the circuit has improved and it’s now possible to race on, the resurfacing was done in a hurry and completed just a few days ago but it’s workable and better than we expected. Alex did a good job today despite not feeling great from a physical point of view, and he made it into the Top 10. Joan had some small technical issues in FP2, but these things can happen and tomorrow is another day.”

GRAND PRIX OF INDONESIA DAY 1 CLASSIFICATION:

1 Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 01'31.608
2 Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 01'31.638 +0.03
3 Johann Zarco Pramac Racing 01'31.893 +0.285
4 Jorge Martin Pramac Racing 01'31.904 +0.296
5 Enea Bastianini Gresini Racing MotoGP 01'31.921 +0.313
6 Jack Miller Ducati Lenovo Team 01'31.965 +0.357
7 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia Racing 01'32.008 +0.4
8 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 01'32.017 +0.409
9 Miguel Oliveira Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 01'32.049 +0.441
10 Alex Rins Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 01'32.106 +0.498
11 Andrea Dovizioso WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team 01'32.303 +0.695
12 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda IDEMITSU 01'32.314 +0.706
13 Maverick Viñales Aprilia Racing 01'32.344 +0.736
14 Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing MotoGP 01'32.418 +0.81
15 Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46 Racing Team 01'32.471 +0.863
16 Alex Marquez LCR Honda Castrol 01'32.554 +0.946
17 Raul Fernandez Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 01'32.557 +0.949
18 Remy Gardner Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 01'32.626 +1.018
19 Pol Espargaro Repsol Honda Team 01'32.628 +1.02
20 Joan Mir Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 01'32.641 +1.033
21 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo Team 01'32.845 +1.237
22 Marc Marquez Repsol Honda Team 01'32.847 +1.239
23 Darryn Binder WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team 01'33.014 +1.406
24 Luca Marini Mooney VR46 Racing Team 01'33.223 +1.615