The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider needs just 7 more points than his closest rival in Indonesia to become Moto3™ World Champion. Alvaro Carpe takes on another new track this weekend with the aim of helping in the team standings.

The Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit will host the 18th round of the Moto3 World Championship this weekend, in which Jose Antonio Rueda has the chance to win the title. The series leader, who already has eight wins and twelve podiums to his name, needs to score just seven more points than Angel Piqueras to secure the crown. Alvaro Carpe will try to help his teammate and also help Red Bull KTM Ajo move closer to the Team honour.

Rueda has led the overall standings since the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, and has his first opportunity to mathematically seal the title this weekend. With five rounds still to go, his strong results in the last three races have put him very close to becoming Moto3 World Champion: A win and two second places in San Marino, Catalonia, and Japan, respectively, have given him 65 of the last 75 points available. In Indonesia he has had a difficult time on previous visits, as in his rookie year he finished fifth there, while last season he placed 11th. Rueda currently has 315 points, 93 more than his closest rival in the standings.

Carpe is riding in Indonesia for the first time. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rookie provides an ally to his teammate on track, but also wants a good result to get back in form in the latter stages of the season. In Japan, a new track for him, he was close to returning amongst the frontrunners after a weekend of progress and growth, but the appearance of rain during the race left him out of the leading group. The Spaniard has shown consistency in the form of 16 finishes from 17 races -all in the points. This has kept him in the fight for the Rookie of the Year honour, as well as helping to contribute to Red Bull KTM Ajo’s pursuit of the Team title. With five rounds remaining, he remains fifth in the overall standings, with 157 points -47 fewer than Rookie rival Maximo Quiles.

Red Bull KTM Ajo are looking for a first podium finish at Mandalika, and could achieve a title at a circuit without ever having placed on the rostrum there. Anyway, both Rueda and Carpe will be working at their best during the three days of the weekend with the aim of giving two good results to the team that will bring them closer to the team title. They lead the Team standings by 472 points, 135 clear of the outfit in second place.

With a similar schedule than in the JapaneseGP, the second of the flyaway rounds gets underway this Friday at 9 a.m. (local time) with the Free Practice. The 20-lap race will take place at 12 p.m. on Sunday, one hour late than normally.

Circuit information – Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit
Length: 4.301 m / 2.68 miles
Width: 15 m / 49.21 ft.
Left corners: 6
Right corners: 11
Longest straight: 723 m / 2372.05 ft
Constructed: 2021

#99 JOSE ANTONIO RUEDA

“We’re going to Mandalika, a circuit I really like and where I think we can have a full and consistent weekend. We’ll prepare for the race as best we can from the first Free Practice session on Friday and then see what happens. I don’t want to think about anything other than treating the Grand Prix as I have the previous seventeen, so we’re going to work to achieve the best setup with my team. If something else needs to come our way on Sunday, it will.”

#83 ALVARO CARPE

“Mandalika is another new circuit for me, so I’ll approach it as I did at Motegi. We’ll try to make the most of the two Free Practice sessions and Practice to better understand its characteristics and aim for a competitive weekend. In Japan, we showed very positive progress over the three days, but couldn’t finish it off in the second half of the race. The goal for this weekend is to have a good final stage to the race and take the chequered flag with the leading group.”