Mario Aji Finds New Challenges When Trying Out The Qatar Lusail Circuit

Mario Suryo Aji during his action at the Qatar Moto3 free practice session at the Lusail International Circuit, Qatar, Friday, November 17, 2023. (ANTARA/HO/Honda Team Asia)

JAKARTA - Indonesian motorcycle racer Mario Suryo Aji (Honda Team Asia) said he found a number of new challenges when trying out the Lusail International Circuit which had just been repaved, during the Qatar Moto3 free practice session.

"In the first exercise, I couldn't press too hard because the new asphalt was so dirty, and I couldn't feel the grip between the tires and the asphalt. I decided to dedicate this exercise to analyze the track further," Mario said as quoted by ANTARA, Saturday, November 18.

Mario recorded a best round time of 2 minutes 09.354 seconds and ended the training session at P26.

He continued, he still could not find the right strategy with the new asphalt condition.

"I'm not satisfied with my final position, but I'm satisfied with my feelings on the motorbike. We have to keep working to get better in the qualifying round," said the racer from East Java.

Meanwhile, Mario's teammate, Furusato Taiyo, said that the condition of the new asphalt at the Lusail International Circuit was very slippery and difficult. This was proven by Furusato who finished P22 and recorded the best round time of 2 minutes 09.038 seconds.

This is a difficult day in Qatar. In P1, I don't feel anything with the asphalt, (the asphalt) feels very slippery. In the afternoon, we made some changes to the setup and used medium tires and I performed better, but I made a lot of mistakes, damaged my best lap time," said Furusato.

The Japanese racer also took many lessons from the training session to be applied in the qualifying round.

"Regarding the preparation, we have several ideas for the qualifying round later, and I will try to continue its development," he said.

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Honda Team Asia manager Hiroshi Aoyama added that the conditions on the circuit filled with dust and new asphalt were indeed in the main spotlight in this training session.

Taiyo and Mario struggle to face these slippery conditions. They need to adjust the lines and points of braking. They need more time on the track because we should be superior. Let's see later," said Aoyama.