Indonesian Young Racers Master European Races At The Italian Imola Circuit, Not Just Once But Two Races!

JAKARTA - Indonesian racer Aldi Satya Mahendra won the Yamaha R3 BLU European Championship 2023 at the Imola Circuit, Italy, Sunday, July 16. Not only once, Aldi Satya bulldozed two races at once!

Aldi Satya made a brilliant start in Race 1 and managed to dominate speed from start to finish. Six rivals tried hard to follow and chase him, but failed.

One of them is the leader of the 2022 SuperFinale standings and winner, Emiliano Ercolani. In fact, the Italian racer had an accident to chase Aldi Satya while in second place with four laps remaining.

As other competitors struggle to get a position, Aldi continues to focus on building a far advantage, and eventually crosses the finish line seven seconds ahead of his closest rivals, Krittapat Kenim and Kevin Fontainha.

"From the first round of Race 1 I decided that I wanted to try to immediately separate myself from the group (and lead the race), and I remember that during the race. Finally, I was able to win seven seconds (from Kekakum), which made me very happy," said Aldi, on the official website of WSBK quoted via Antara, Monday, July 17.

In Race 2, the race was fiercer, however, Aldi once again tried to start quietly. Marc Vik and Ercolani tried to catch up and join the main group with Kenkum and Eduardo Burr.

Despite the group's best efforts, they finally had to give up on Aldi's dominance speed as he then extended the distance to two seconds on the final lap.

Ercolani, who tried to get past the race leader, had to settle for finishing second, while Kenimum was in third.

"In Race 2, I managed to win again, even though the distance was smaller, but I am very happy with my performance, especially because this is my first time in Imola. I will give my best until the end (the championship) later," said Aldi.

Aldi Satya said he was quite challenged by the hot weather at the legendary Italian circuit. However, according to him, this is not an excuse not to give his best because he is used to the hot conditions in the country.

"Today's hot weather is normal for me from Asia, so I don't have too much trouble doing the race," said Aldi.