This weekend, Delvintor Alfarizi from Indonesia will race the MX2 World Championship in Switzerland as he will race his first GP outside of his home country. For the 2023 season, he has inked a deal with the JM Honda team to contest 10 rounds of the MX2 World Championship – exciting times!
We caught up with Alfarizi before he makes his first appearance of the season this weekend in Switzerland.
GateDrop: Delvintor, 2023 is going to be very exciting for you as you’ll race the MX2 World Championships. Just how did the deal all come around for the season ahead?
Alfarizi: This year, Astra Honda has a collaboration with JM Racing to compete in MX2 World Championship. In this collaboration, I am trusted to compete as their rider in that competition for 10 rounds this season. This will be our first participation in world motocross championship, we will work very hard, and hopefully we can achieve optimum result in this season.
GateDrop: Coming from Indonesia to contest the MX2 World Championship, you must be very proud to try and help put Indonesia on the map in the sport? Are you the first Indonesian rider to contest the full World Championship?
Alfarizi: Yes I will be the first Indonesian rider to race in MXGP (MX2 class). It’s really exciting and gives me an extra motivation for sure.
GateDrop: You’ve raced the series before in Indonesia, can you talk me through those events? It must feel special to have MXGP in your home country!
Alfarizi: Yes it’s really special to have MXGP event in my home country. I’ve been following MXGP and AMA since I was a kid, therefore being able to race there is an amazing feeling. Everything about the GP is completely different than other races that I’ve ever been on. The atmosphere and the track are next level in terms of difficulty and the way to ride. It’s still something that new to me and I need to learn the way to compete.
GateDrop: Can you tell me a bit about your setup for 2023? Will you have your own setup with Astra Honda, or will your bike be under the JM Honda Racing awning?
Alfarizi: JM Honda Racing will do the bike setup for me to collaborate with Astra Honda to match with my riding character, I’m sure collaborating between Astra Honda and JM Honda Racing with their knowledge and experience can build a fast GP machine for me.
GateDrop: Do you follow the World Championship outside of Indonesia? MX2 was very exciting last year with the Vialle and Geerts battle!
Alfarizi: Yes I have been watching the MXGP a lot the last few years and the battle between Vialle and Geerts was crazy last year, I think this year is also going to be packed with many new riders coming to MX2, it’s going to be challenging.
GateDrop: What has your preparation been like for the 2023 season?
Alfarizi: We’ve done a lot of work here on track and train my physique to face the MX2 World Championship. We’ve been in Belgium to train and setup the bike there with the team.
GateDrop: Looking at the calendar, what tracks are you looking forward to the most and what countries are you looking forward to seeing the most?
Alfarizi: Obviously the two home-races in Indonesia with the Indonesian fans will give me extra energy, but in Europe there are many tracks to which I’m looking forward to race there so many cool tracks there. But if I have to choose maybe Trentino, so many great battles there in the past and the tracks looks really nice and has a hard pack ground which I like.
GateDrop: During the season will you be based in Belgium? It will be very different to Indonesia and I’m sure you can’t wait to ride at Lommel!
Alfarizi: Yes I can’t wait to get there and get a bit of a taste of the Lommel sand. The track is a legend, so it is gonna be very exciting to learn how to ride the sand and do race in it.
GateDrop: For the season ahead, what are your expectations for the MX2 World Championship?
Alfarizi: This is my first year in World Championship, as a rookie, I have to learn a lot from other riders. I also need to learn to work together with the mechanics, study the GP tracks, and try to finish all the races with my maximum effort.
GateDrop: Anything else to add/anyone to thank?
Alfarizi: I want to thank Astra Honda Racing Team and JM Racing for giving me the opportunity to race the MX2 season this year. It’s been a long-life dream for me. And also I want to thank my family who’s been there since day one. We finally here, I’m really excited and let’s go for it.
Interview: Andy McKinstry
