Riders discuss MotoGP’s “strange, characterful” first street circuit at Mandalika

The final pre-season test ahead of the 2022 campaign got underway on Friday as MotoGP returned to Indonesia for the first time since 1997.

The Mandalika International Street Circuit is the first ‘street’ circuit to be used in the modern MotoGP era – though it is purpose-built venue that will eventually be used by local road traffic.

The 2.68-mile venue made its international race debut last November for the World Superbike finale, but had not been used again until Friday when MotoGP took to the circuit for the first of three days of testing.

As a result of this, plus construction work around the venue since then, the track was immensely dirty after rainfall on Friday morning.

The session was red-flagged for well over an hour while the track was cleaned, before riders were sent out to sweep the track on their bikes following a meeting with Dorna Sports and FIM safety officer Franco Uncini – which eventually resulted in a usable racing line.

This was met with criticism from some, with Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli labelling it “fucking dangerous” for MotoGP riders to clean tracks while Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro said the situation was “unrideable”.

Despite the difficult track conditions, the layout was met with praise from riders, with Honda’s Pol Espargaro noting that “it has its own character”.

“The track is nice. It has a little bit of everything,” said Espargaro, who was fastest on Friday.

“The only problem was we faced a situation in the morning where the track was very, very, very dirty and then we need to make laps to at least clean the line.

“By the ned the line was more or less clean, and with some rubber we could at least start to work on the bike.

“But apart from that I think the track was nice. It has very fast