2020 MotoGP champion Joan Mir has claimed the Mandalika circuit is safe to race in, although cleaning of the general condition of the track will need to take place before next month’s grand prix according to the Suzuki rider.
Mir, who finished fifth on day two of official Mandalika MotoGP testing after launching a late time attack, thinks conditions at the 4.310km (2.678 mile) circuit are good at the race line, but it is just the opposite when forced offline.
“Yeah, I think the track is safe,” Mir said in response to being asked if the circuit was safe enough to race on or not. “The thing is, yesterday was really dirty. In my case, I crashed and I think most of the crashes (second day) are due to the high temperatures.
“I was trying to do something more on the braking and then I lost the front. I was on the line. It’s true that if you lose the line a bit, you completely lose the bike.
“In my case, I think the track is safe, but for the GPs (motorcycles) they have to work on cleaning the track surface to make the off-line situation better.
“Also, if the track is like this for racing, we won’t see any overtaking because there’s only one line. Once you get off that line, you can’t even brake, you can’t nothing to do. All you can do in these conditions is put the bike upright and release the brakes. That’s how it is.
While MotoGP’s return to Indonesia for the first time in 25 years proved difficult given the unpredictable weather and track conditions, Mir was also without two team members in today’s race following to positive PCR tests.
“Well today was difficult. It was a very busy day, honestly. We had positive people (failed PCR test) and on my side of the box there were two,” added the Spanish rider. .
“It made our job a bit difficult. These things can happen and we have to be ready as best we can. I struggled a bit today with the electronic side of the bike.
“I couldn’t stay out very long and didn’t do many laps because we need more time to sort this out.”
Along with Enea Bastianini and Aleix Espargaro, Mir was the only other driver unable to complete 50 or more laps due to electronic issues.
Apart from the bike issues he encountered, Mir also suffered an early crash, as happened to Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Martin.
“I also had a crash which for the guys made the bike a bit more difficult. It was a tough day but I felt strong on the bike,” added Mir.
“I worked a lot with the medium tire and when we put the soft I felt an improvement with the grip and I was able to be fast. I’m happy, and I think there is still room for improvement. margin to be faster.”
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