Mandalika Racing Team Teams Up With SAG Team For Moto2 Next Year

National racer Dimas Ekky Pratama (second from left) speaks at the launch event for Mandalika Racing Team Indonesia some time ago (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Mandalika Racing Team Indonesia officially collaborates with the SAG Racing Team to compete in the Moto2 world championship starting next year.

The news was confirmed directly by the chairman of MRTI Rapsel Ali on Friday, December 4 and also on the social media of the SAG team.

"I am very happy because today is the day where Indonesia made history: Mandalika Racing Team became the first Indonesian team in the Moto2 World Championship. I have full confidence in the SAG team to realize our dream of becoming Moto2 world champion," said Rapsel Ali's official statement.

Surprisingly the SAG Team earlier this week parted ways with their main sponsor Onexox TKKR after two years of partnering in Moto2 due to difficulties securing sponsorship amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

This raises a question because before the news of the farewell emerged, MRTI announced via social media that they would participate in Moto2 with SAG under the name Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team.

The news was finally confirmed today.

"This new alliance with the Mandalika Racing Team from Indonesia and the SAG Team brings a new identity: this team will compete under the name Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team," said the team's official statement.

Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team will be strengthened by experienced racer Tom Luthi. Meanwhile, the Indonesian side proposed the name of the national racer Dimas Ekky Pratama to become the partner for the Swiss racer.

However, Malaysian racer Kasma Daniel is still under contract with SAG.

"The name Dimas has been proposed to IRTA and is waiting for a decision from Dorna," Rapsel confirmed via text message.

The SAG team closed the 2020 season in sixth place in the standings with 160 points presented by the duo Remy Gardner and Kasma Daniel.

"We are very excited about this new collaborative project with Pertamina and the Mandalika Racing Team to compete next season," said SAG team head Edu Perales.

"This is a very ambitious sports project that we have taken on and we hope to go ahead and fight for the Moto2 world championship."

Meanwhile, after being absent in Indonesia for 23 years, the MotoGP event is projected to be held again in the country next year at the Mandalika circuit which is under construction in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

In the midst of uncertainty due to the threat of COVID-19, MotoGP at the beginning of last month issued a provisional calendar consisting of 20 races that were held from March to November.

It is not certain when the date Indonesia will host the Grand Prix considering that the Mandalika Circuit is currently on the reserve list with the Algarve Circuit in Portugal and Igora in Russia.

The provisional calendar is likely to change because of the uncertain pandemic situation.