As soon as the first round at Phillip Island in Australia concluded, the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing technicians loaded the bikes and all the necessary material into the appropriate crates, which left the next morning by air for Indonesia. The second round of the two WorldSBK and WorldSSP championships will in fact take place at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit next weekend, from 3 to 5 March.

In the first two Supersport races Can Oncu was hit by luck in the first, while he took a deserved podium in the second, and without the red flag a few laps from the end, his third place could have been a result even more prestigious.

For the young Turkish rider in Mandalika the goal is to stay at the top of the category, and to aim for victory in both races.

Tom Sykes, the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider in the Superbike World Championship, suffered from some electronics problems on his Ninja, but together with his team he took a further step towards competitiveness. In Indonesia, the former 2013 SBK World Champion will continue with the development of his bike, trying to enter the top ten.

Both riders have already raced at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit a facility located on the island of Lombok, which was inaugurated in 2021 by the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo and which includes a track with a length of 4.31 kilometers, with 17 curves. The Mandalika racetrack has 40 garages in the paddock area, 50,000 seats in the grandstand and 138,000 seats in the green areas surrounding the track.

Tom Sykes

“I’m keen to get back on my bike at Mandalika to confirm that we understood and resolved the issues that slowed us down at the first round at Phillip Island. I only raced on the Indonesian track in 2012, achieving good results and I can say that I like the track. I hope I can work well with the team and have some good races, but we’ll have to see what the weather conditions will be.”

Can Oncu

“I have good memories of Mandalika. Last year, after a second position in Superpole, I conquered two podiums in the race. This year I hope to be able to do even better as the bike has improved and I’m very motivated. In Australia we were unlucky, but with the podium in Race 2 we still showed that we can aim for the win”.