Roll the dice: conditions hinder potential for Cam and Sean in Indonesia
A mixed weekend for the American Racing Team as Cameron Beaubier takes 12th while Sean Dylan Kelly is forced to retire from the shortened Indonesia Grand Prix.
Cam’s weekend got off to a steady start as the Californian familiarized himself with the brand new Mandalika International Street Circuit, ending all three practice sessions inside the top 15 and securing himself a direct place in Q2. A crash in qualifying prevented him from improving on 11th but, despite a tweak to his knee, he was able to walk away relatively unscathed.
On Sunday, faced with the unknown of the Indonesian circuit asphalt, the team took a gamble on the tires to maximize their longevity but, due to the reduced laps, were caught out. Cam fought to break into the top 10 for much of the race but, on the final lap, was caught and crossed the finish line in 12th.
It was a mixed start to the weekend for Sean as the rookie managed to show his potential in the mixed conditions to finish inside the top 10 on two of the three practice session but missed out on a direct place in Q2. An unfortunate crash on his first flying lap in qualifying sent Sean out of the session early and to the back of the grid.
Making an incredible start, Sean made up five positions with a great start before a broken shifter ended his race early as he was forced to retire.
Cameron Beaubier – #6
“Kind of like Qatar, I was expecting more to be honest. But I’m really happy we finished, especially with the tough conditions and my little crash yesterday in qualifying just on that second lap. I still don’t know what I touched in turn two, whether it was a wet patch or something to do with the asphalt.
We were anticipating a full distance race going with the lightly used soft rear tire, it’s a strategy I’ve done back home in the US before, just to harden the tire up a little bit. But the race was shortened last minute, and I just didn’t have the grip at the beginning of the race. So, I felt like I was just getting passed, left and right. If we had the race again, we’d have chosen a different strategy.
At the end I was trying to go for that top 10 and salvage a pretty tough Grand Prix, made a move into the final sector on Arenas and sent us wide and lost a couple places. I’m happy I stayed on two wheels though and all in all, I’m happy to get out of here with some good points and move on to Argentina!”
Sean Dylan Kelly – #4
“Overall, it was an up and down weekend. We had a lot of positives and some tough moments as well, some challenges we can really learn from. It was nice being able to get into the top 10 in some of the sessions with some ‘complicated’ weather. Honestly, it was just nice to get a good feeling with the bike, enough to put it somewhat more competitive. It was just a shame because every time we had some dry time in FP2, I felt like we were on the right path to do something good. But then I put in the soft tire with 10 mins to go I crashed on my first flying lap so couldn’t put in the soft tire lap time. I didn’t go out again on the tire in the dry until qualifying yesterday and that lasted less than a lap as well.
I feel like we lost a lot of dry time and that put me a step behind going into the race. That was definitely tough, but I tried my best to build that back and have an understanding during the race. But unfortunately, that ended early for us due to a mechanical issue. It’s part of racing but like I said, it was a weekend overall with lots of positives and challenges we’ll be able to learn and grow from!”
John Hopkins – American Racing Sporting Director
“It’s been a difficult weekend and bittersweet in a lot of ways. Most of the teams will have had a lot of negatives, I think we have a lot of positives.
For Sean, it’s been extremely difficult. We thought coming to a new track it would be somewhat of an even playing field, everyone learning the new track but with the conditions involved in that going from wet to dry to wet, barely having any dry track time, he’s been thrown into the deep end. But nonetheless he was consistently one of the top rookies throughout the weekend in a couple sessions. The race was wild, but he persevered, got a great start and a decent learning experience with the group he was riding with. Unfortunately, his shifter broke which put him out of the running but all this experience in varied conditions will make him a better rider in future.
As for Cam, it was a disappointing result given that his potential has been so high. He’s had solid race pace throughout the weekend, been strong wet or dry. Qualifying set us back by only having the one lap. I think if he had started higher up, he’d have finished higher too. But he got points, stayed up and that’s the most important thing.
The tire strategy was a gamble for everyone but as a team, I have to accept some responsibility as I was in favor of the tire choice we made but I think it was the wrong one ultimately for him. But these things can happen. It’s a long season, he’s got good points in the first two races. Let’s move to Argentina and the USA to search for that podium!”
