VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Miguel Oliveira of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team accelerates his motorcycle on day one of the 2022 MotoGP pre-season test race at the Mandalika International Street Circuit, West Nusa Tenggara, on Friday (Feb 11, 2022). ANTARA PHOTO/Andika Wahyu/YU - 

MotoGP racers in the 2022 Indonesian Grand Prix at the Mandalika International Street Circuit logged improved lap time on the second official pre-season test race day, Saturday, after racetrack conditions hindered the race on day one.

As of 11 a.m. local time (UTC +8), Brad Binder of the KTM team recorded the best lap time of 1'31"814, a margin of 0.6 seconds of the best lap time of 1'31"466 recorded on day one clocked by Pol Espagaro of the Repsol Honda team.

Fabio Quartararo of the Yamaha team came second, with a lap time margin of 0.006 seconds from Binder's, while the third place was claimed by Alex Rins from the Suzuki team, with a lap time margin of 0.070 seconds.

Enea Bastianini from the Gresini team and Aleix Espargaro from the Aprilia team were placed fourth and fifth on their second day lap time record respectively.

On the second test day race, a total of 13 racers were successful in improving their time lap as compared to their day-one record.

Earlier, during the first day of the race test session on Friday (Feb 11), racers' complaints of dust and pebbles on the racing track compelled the race organiser to suspend the race for an hour to clean the racetrack.

The racetrack was reopened at noon local time after it was deemed safe, and racers were instructed to perform a 20-lap race to test the racetrack before 3 p.m. local time.

The Indonesian Grand Prix deputy race committee, Eddy Saputra, noted that the race track was dirty on account of a sub-optimal cleaning process.

"Normally, the cleaning must be conducted daily in two weeks before the race. I think the circuit operator is late in cleaning the track this time," Saputra remarked.

To prevent the incident from recurring and to enhance the pre-season test race, the organiser will schedule cleaning of the race track every morning, noon, and afternoon, he revealed.

Meanwhile, Espargaro, who recorded the best lap time on day one, claimed he would feel more confident to rev up the pace of his motorcycle if the race track were clean.

"We still looking for the right feeling (for the race), yet the dirty racetrack hinders us from exerting our maximum efforts on day one. I am convinced that I will record a better lap time if the race track is clean," Espargaro remarked.

A dirty racetrack will pose a greater risk for racers, as the dirt will reduce the effectiveness of the bike's braking grip and impact the efforts to rectify the direction of acceleration, he added//ANT