WorldSBK – The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team tackle challenging Mandalika

The 2023 Superbike World Championship continues this weekend at the Mandalika International Street Circuit in Indonesia, where the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team is in action with riders Hafizh Syahrin and Eric Granado.

The technicians and riders were keen to hit the ground running in the first free practices, which ran in hot and humid conditions today. Granado spent FP1 doing his best to learn what is another challenging new track for him. The Brazilian worked hard with his technicians and progressed little by little, setting a time of 1’39.518 to place twenty-first. A 1’37.087 for Syahrin saw him finish this first session in seventeenth position.

Back on track in the early afternoon, Malaysian rider Syahrin made a big step in the initial stages of FP2, setting a 1’36.031 which ultimately proved to be his fastest lap of the day. Thanks to this time, Hafizh positioned nineteenth in the combined standings. Granado also picked up his performance with respect to the morning’s session, lowering his time by more than three seconds (1’36.373) to conclude day 1 in twenty-second position overall.

Hafizh Syahrin P19

“Today’s sessions didn’t go too badly. I felt that we had the speed, but when we put in a fresh tyre in FP2 it didn’t really lead to a big improvement. I was able to be more consistent with respect to FP1 but not faster, losing speed mid-turn. There’s no room for mistakes through the corners here as the lines are very narrow, so we need to improve the bike in terms of turning so that we don’t lose out in this area. I think if we can take another step tomorrow, we can get closer to our rivals and challenge in qualifying.”

Eric Granado P22

“It’s been a positive day. It’s my first time here at Mandalika and so it’s been interesting to learn the track. At first, there was very little grip and we all struggled to find the right line, particularly riders like me who don’t know the layout! If you run off line, you lose a lot of time and risk crashing. So I took things easy during the first practice and then picked up the pace in the afternoon, improving by more than three seconds. I’m happy with day one and will continue to work tomorrow during FP3 and the Superpole to understand the track properly and ready the bike in preparation for the races.”

Full FP Results HERE