RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP arrives in Indonesia for first stop of overseas trip

This weekend, the fifteenth Grand Prix of 2024 will be held at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit in Indonesia. It is the first of five overseas race weekends taking place over the next six weeks. After a disappointing race in Misano, it will be up to RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP to score points again with Barry Baltus and Zonta van den Goorbergh.

It is the third time a Grand Prix will be held at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit. Construction of the circuit located on Lombok was completed in 2021 and has a length of 4.3 kilometres. The circuit has six right turns and 11 left turns with the straight being 723 metres long. However, the biggest challenge is posed by the high ambient temperature and humidity.

The race weekend at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit starts with free practice on Friday morning, followed by the first official practice session in the afternoon. Then the second official practice will take place on Saturday morning after which it will be clear which riders will have to participate in Q1 or Q2. Qualifying starts Saturday afternoon at 13:45 local time (07:45 Central European time) and the 22-lap race starts Sunday afternoon at 13:15 (07:15 CET). This is an hour later than usual.

Zonta van den Goorbergh: “We will start with the first Grand Prix of this Asian tour. There are a lot of races coming up in a short period and they are all far apart too, so it will be challenging. However, they are all nice tracks where I like to ride, so I am definitely looking forward to it. This weekend we are in Indonesia where it is very warm, and where we will work hard again to achieve our goals.”

Barry Baltus: “It was a very long trip but we made it to Indonesia. It’s a nice very nice circuit and it will be interesting to see how things will go with the very high temperatures and the Pirelli tyres. There might also be some rain so the conditions could be challenging. The track conditions can be a bit tricky during the first sessions so we’ll have to manage that in a good way. The weekend in Misano was not bad but we were missing something during the race. We need to continue to work like this and score points again on Sunday.”

Jarno Janssen – RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team manager: “It was a very long trip to Indonesia but fortunately it all went well. With the high temperatures and humidity, it will be a tough weekend for the riders and the team so we have to deal with that in a good way. In Misano we missed out in the race so we now have to make sure we are there on Sunday as well.”