Indonesian MotoGP round being investigated
Of course it is a matter of when, not if, that MotoGP will bring its show to Indonesia. The country is MotoGP mad and enjoys a massive population whose primary mode of transport is via motorcycle or scooter. The primary reason that MotoGP does not already host an Indonesian round is due to the lack of a suitable facility.
Indonesia has a population of 261 million and as of 2012 there were 94 million registered motorcycles in Indonesia. That figure represents 84 per cent of all registered vehicles on the road. As of 2012 in any one day there were more than 60 million motorcycles on the roads at any given time in Indonesia. That’s almost three-times the population of Australia riding motorcycles daily.
Indonesia is the third largest motorcycle consumer in the world, trailing only China and India, both of whom have much larger populations.
Motorcycle manufacturers and MotoGP’s Dorna are acutely aware of the popularity of motorcycles and MotoGP in Indonesia with Repsol/HRC seeing it fit to launch their current 2018 MotoGP campaign in Indonesia and the fourth consecutive time in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.
The last Indonesian Grand Prix took place at the Sentul Circuit in 1997 when Valentino Rossi took the victory in the 125cc class, with Tadayuki Okada winning the 500cc race. Despite the obvious reasons to have an Indonesian MotoGP round once again – subsequent attempts to bring MotoGP back to the country have not yet found enough traction to make it happen thus far. Back in late 2017 there were rumors of a track and infrastructure being ready for the 2019 MotoGP season, with the new Jakabaring Circuit of Palembang possibly hosting an Indonesian MotoGP round, but as yet there is no official announcement from Dorna so don’t hold your breath. It is inevitable however that we will eventually see an Indonesian MotoGP round.
Representatives from the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation recently met with Mr Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports SL, along with the Sporting Director, Mr Carlos Ezpeleta, took a short break to visit the Island of Bali, staying at one of the five-star resorts at the Nusa Dua, a 350-ha integrated Tourism Estate, owned and managed by ITDC.
During this time, Mr Ezpeleta and Mr Abdulbar M. Mansoer, CEO and President Director of ITDC, toured and enjoyed the facilities at the Nusa Dua and also embarked on a day trip to the Island of Lombok to visit the Mandalika, another tourism resort project currently under development by ITDC, situated in the Southern Coast of the Island.
Specifically, for this trip, Dorna was visiting a possible location for hosting future Motorbike Race Events within the 1,175-ha integrated tourism estate. The Mandalika, an Integrated Tourism Complex is situated in the South of Lombok, next to the
neighboring Island of Bali. With 16km of Beachfront, the Mandalika is managed under ITDC.
Mr Abdulbar M. Mansoer – CEO of ITDC
“Mr Carmelo Ezpeleta was primarily at the Nusa Dua for a well-deserved break at the Bali National Golf Club before heading out to Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang. It was not his first time to the Island as he visited the Nusa Dua around 2 years prior beforehand. For this visit, during his busy schedule and on route between the two races, he wanted to visit Bali as well as Lombok, where we welcomed him to the Mandalika and presented a potential concept to host future Motorbike Race Events. His visit was brief, but we believe that he sincerely enjoyed his break and of course we would be very happy to welcome him back to Bali and Lombok in the near future.”
