News regarding Indonesia to host 2021 MotoGP started to emerge last month. This ignited a spark among the Indonesians who are very much into Motorsports and the country itself is a big motorcycle market. While things were still blurred, it’s now official that there will be an Indonesian GP in 2021.
The first race of 2019 MotoGP season will happen today (10th March 2019) in Qatar. Everyone is busy preparing for the only night race in the MotoGP calendar. However, during a presentation on 9th March, led directly by Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO, Dorna, things became solid for the Indonesian GP.
During the 40 minute presentation, a lot of questions regarding the Indonesia GP were put forward and many thoughts were shared. Speaking about the same, Ezpeleta said that ever since the last race that took place in 1997 in Sentul, he always wanted to have a MotoGP race held in Indonesia. Motorcycles and motorcycle racing are very important in this country. They worked out things with Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) last year and finally decided that they can do this.
Ricky Baheramsjah, Head of Investment and Marketing of Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), was also present at the presentation to represent Indonesia. He revealed that Lombok is the finalized location for the 2021 Indonesian GP.
The Mandalika Circuit will be a 4.32km long track with 18 corners. It is going to be a street circuit – a world’s first. A French firm called Vinci Construction will build the track as a part of the $1 billion Mandalika coastal development project in the south of Lombok.
If you remember, Thai GP at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram is the latest addition in the MotoGP calendar (2018). This made the total number of races to 19. MotoGP riders were in favor of the addition of an extra race but they also made it clear that the number should not exceed 20. This meant there is only one spot left for Dorna to include a new venue for MotoGP to reach a global audience. And Dorna selected Indonesia.
