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Thursday, August 14: Young Indonesian rider Boanerges Ratag inherited the lead on lap 18 and held on to secure a memorable 19.530-second win in the third of the Endurance Motos at the Grand Prix of Indonesia on Thursday morning.
Much to the delight of the sizeable home crowd, the 25 points enabled the 16-year-old student from Jakarta to move four points ahead of race runner-up Lino Araùjo in the battle for glory in this year’s UIM-ABP Class Pro World Endurance Championship.
A delighted Ratag said: “The race was so tough. It was choppy and I got tired midway through. I maintained my speed and waited for the others to break down. It’s amazing. I never thought that I would win in my own country. Now I have a big chance if I can maintain my speed.”
Hungarian György Kasza led from the start to lap 17 before engine issues put him out of contention and also put a damper on his title aspirations. His demise enabled Jay Finlinson to snatch third place and move into a similar position in the championship standings.
Finlinson said: “It was great. That was definitely my best start of the week. I came out third at the start. I was proud of that. I got passed by someone faster but I stayed with it and managed to stay in the top three. We are not sure if we want to go faster or stay on the reliable side. We will get talking and see what we want to do for the last three Motos.”
Sixteen riders took the start of the third of six Motos. Indonesia’s Trinity Ratat and Fakhrul Berutu, Dane Rasmus Koch Hansen, Japanese rider Isahai Hajime, Mario Lamy and Anderson Dos Santos failed to make the start.
Kasza earned the hole shot from Ratag, Finlinson, Scott Phillips and Bailey Cunningham and edged into the lead, although the determined Moto 1 winner Lino Araùjo managed to pass Cunningham to take fifth place.
By lap four, Kasza had increased his lead over championship leader Ratag to 12.610 seconds, as Melbourne-based Kiwi rider Kylie Ellmers began to put the pressure on Cunningham in the tussle for sixth place. Makaio Wimylie, Anthony Radetic and Hilman Kurniawan rounded off the early top 10.
Araùjo was in good form and the Portuguese overhauled Finlinson to take third place behind Kasza and Ratag. As it stood, just three points separated the leading three drivers but there were still 29 minutes of the Moto to run.
Kasza’s advantage grew to 36.194 seconds after 12 laps with Ratag and Araùjo comfortably running in second and third places ahead of Finlinson, Phillips and Cunningham. All 16 riders were still in the Moto but Adrian Herias Fernandez was losing touch with his European rivals at the rear of the field.
Kasza hit serious engine trouble on lap 18 and plummeted out of contention, the Hungarian’s demise catapulting Ratag into the lead ahead of Araùjo, Finlinson, Phillips, Cunningham, Ellmers, Radetic, Kurniawan, Wimylie and Kanina Ramadhina.
The talented young Indonesian held his nerve to seal a memorable Moto win from his closest Portuguese rival and third-placed Finlinson. Phillips finished fourth and Ellmers managed to find a way past Cunningham to take fifth. Radetic, Kurniawan, Wimylie and Ramadhina rounded off the top 10.
Ellmers said: “A little bit more wind would help me a little bit. This is a pretty good track with some good turns on it. It’s interesting and it makes you work. We went away last year with a plan to come back with a good set-up. We’ve just tidied up last year’s package. My team-mate has the engine upgrade. I would like to be on the podium at the end of the weekend.”
Radetic incurred a time penalty after the race finish for impeding other riders on the course but the American retained seventh place.
With his Moto 3 victory, Ratag has maintained his first place position in the overall standings, increasing his lead from one point to four.