In the world before, the arrival of Indonesia on the calendar of both MotoGP and WSBK was excellent news. All the better as it was long awaited by manufacturers who wanted to participate in more races in strategic latitudes from a market point of view. Then the health crisis arrived and so did the political troubles. Now, between the Spanish promoter and the Indonesians, we have gotten into the tough stuff about this maligned Mandalika site and on which the WSBK set is supposed to hold its grand final during the weekend of November 12 to 14...
An appointment that becomes blurred as the days pass. Between Dorna and the Indonesians, we send out press releases that hardly exude serenity. “ The asphalt surface of the track should be ready by the end of July, but everything else will not be ready by November“, said a Dorna representative in a statement, in which he continued: “ we need an answer soon as we have to manage the logistics to plan."
On the Indonesian side, we assure that the construction of the new circuit Mandalika is already 80% complete, with approval scheduled for the end of the month. The Mandalika Grand Prix Association (MGPA), the promoter of the event, provided the latest information on the construction of the circuit, via their Instagram : " the overall progress of the construction work of the Mandalika circuit reached 80,02% with the progress of the asphalting of the track which was done for approximately 7 meters out of a total of 860 meters."
« In addition to this work, since July 3, 2021, the second layer of asphalt work began for the first segment and continued for subsequent segments. This second layer of work will be completed in mid-July 2021. Then, the last layer of work will be completed before approval which will be carried out at the end of July and beginning of August 2021."
Indonesia: a Mandalika site subject to controversy
Certainly, but logistics will remain a major challenge due to the coronavirus situation. Indonesian residents and tourists are only allowed to enter the country once fully vaccinated. Regardless of this, non-locals still have a quarantine which was recently extended from five to eight days. Even more: for Indonesia's major tourist centers like Bali and Lombok, tourist traffic is currently at a standstill.
The Superbike weekend planned for November in Lombok should actually be a preview of a MotoGP weekend planned for March 2022. Whether this will happen remains to be seen. Because regardless of the progress of construction and the coronavirus situation, there is another problem that has not yet been completely resolved… The United Nations (ONU) published a critical report in April this year, which spoke of human rights violations during the construction of the Mandalika circuit in Lombok. Dorna has not yet made any public statement on this matter.
