MotoGP Indonesia 2022: Seize The Third Moto2 Start Position In Mandalika, This Is Mario Aji's Comment

Mario Aji, an Indonesian racer in the Moto3 class in the 2022 MotoGP. (Photo: ANTARA/Andika Wahyu)

JAKARTA - Indonesian racer Mario Suryo Aji has secured the starting position in the front row of the Moto3 Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia after performing well in the qualifying round on Saturday. Moto3 is the opening class in the MotoGP Indonesia 2022 event.

At the Pertamina Mandalika Circuit, Mario finished third in qualifying 2 with a 0.335 second difference from Carlos Tatay who secured pole position for the CFMOTO Racing Prustel GP team.

Diogo Moreira from the MT Helmet-MSI team completed the front row in P2.

With that result Mario made a big breakthrough after in the season opening race in Qatar he started from P25 and finished P19.

Mario, who debuted in the Moto3 class with the Honda Team, already felt that his motorbike had the potential to penetrate Q2 during a free practice session the previous day even though the 18-year-old racer was still outside the top 20 rankings.

Mario gets a slot to Q2 after surviving Q1 by finishing P2.

In the last qualifying round, Mario briefly led the time before Tatay and Moreira improved their laps towards the end of the session.

"It's amazing the first 'front row' for Indonesia after 25 years, Mario gave a surprise for the first time for Indonesia," said Mario at the Mandalika Circuit.

"Please support for tomorrow's race, hopefully Mario can enjoy tomorrow's race and finish in the points position, Mario will give his best.

There have been no significant obstacles for the Madiun-born racer so far in Mandalika, but he will be wary of the unpredictable weather in Mandalika during the race later.

The Mandalika Circuit was still wet as Mario and the Moto3 riders had their third free practice session following heavy rain on Saturday morning.

However, Mario was able to poke into P5 during the last practice session before qualifying.

"From yesterday's free practice Mario has the potential to go into Q2, but Mario hasn't installed a new tire in the last five minutes so Mario showed all his potential today and his strategy from the team focused on Mario himself and thank God it paid off," he said.

Status as the host rider does not burden the rider who has had experience in the European CEV Moto3 championship.

He will try to give the best performance for the home fans who have high expectations for their "home hero".

"Obviously they had high expectations yesterday, but Mario didn't want to be bothered by their high expectations, Mario remained focused as in the previous races and it just so happened that Mario got a good 'feel' on the bike in Mandalika," he said about the opportunities in the Moto3 class in MotoGP. Indonesia 2022.