Rinaldi: ‘Asphalt was so dirty’ as common complaints about Mandalika return

With limited motorcycle or car racing taking place annually at Mandalika, a ‘dirty’ track was once again a big story on day one as several WorldSBK riders crashed due to being off the racing line.

Robert Jones

03 Mar 2023

Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Ducati WorldSBK Mandalika 2023

The biggest name to fall victim to the track conditions in FP1 was Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who responded by finishing the opening practice for round two of the 2023 WorldSBK season fastest.

Rinaldi then went on to top FP2 following a late charge that saw him better teammate Alvaro Bautista, who also crashed during the afternoon at turn one, by 0.029s.

"Today has been a positive day despite the crash after a few laps in FP1," said Rinaldi. "I immediately felt good on the bike and it’s a strange track here because every session, every lap the surface changes because not many motorcycles ride here.

"There is no rubber on the asphalt and outside of the line it’s dirty; you cannot make a mistake. From FP1 to FP2 the feeling with the bike changed but for sure happy to be first.

"The conditions changed a lot and very quickly. It doesn’t really matter if today you are first because tomorrow we will enter the track and maybe it’s a different story."

While he confirmed that braking too late played a role in crashing, Rinaldi perhaps could have saved the fall had the circuit conditions not been quite as challenging.

When discussing his fall, Rinaldi added: "I braked too late and I crashed because the asphalt was so dirty. The feeling was okay but I entered the box. I was able to re-enter the session and finish P1."

Rinaldi expects familiar WorldSBK names to fight back

Jonathan Rea , Indonesian WorldSBK, 3 March

Like in Phillip Island last weekend, Ducati were in supreme form as they dominated the on-track action.

A clear sign to their rivals that the new Panigale V4 R is going to be strong at most circuits, if not all of them, challenging the likes of Bautista and Rinaldi could be harder than ever.

However, Rinaldi still believes that the likes of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea will be in the running come Race 1.

"You cannot think that tomorrow Toprak or Jonny will not be there," said the Italian rider. "They will be there, for sure.

"During the weekend me and my teammate have done a great job but like I said before, the track changed from FP1 to FP2. With more grip we don’t know if our bike will work better."