Barely back from his 40-hour trip from Indonesia, and a few hours before the trip of more than 24 hours which will take him to the depths of Argentina, Hervé Poncharal was kind enough to share with us his feelings about the new and very exotic Indonesian Grand Prix.
For this first on the island of Lombok, the sporting side was not mentioned, thus favoring a “travel diary” side less broadcast by the cameras…
Hervé Poncharal, after the now traditional season opener in Qatar, an event now well known and without a large audience, the MotoGP world championship has set down in Indonesia on the brand new Mandalika circuit. As soon as you arrived there, you discovered a warm atmosphere and a population as motivated as they were welcoming, which was then confirmed by the announcement of the sale of the 65 tickets available, but the stands appeared relatively empty to us. Are we wrong?
Hervé Poncharal : " One thing is certain, it is that everyone was very excited to go to Indonesia, because we know it in relation to the media, in relation to social networks, in relation to the way in which MotoGP is followed, its drivers and teams: it’s incredible! It is also one of the largest two-wheeler markets on the planet, and it is also where Japanese manufacturers have their largest production plants, so it is a key country. I remember that at the time of Johann (Zarco) and Hafizh (Syahrin), and even Pol Espargaró, we went to Indonesia to do promotion days for Yamaha, and it was incredible! We ended up with several thousand people, just to do a Meet and Great and sign a couple of things. It was therefore important, almost obligatory, to go to that country. So there was obviously great excitement, but also questions about the new circuit. The Indonesian Grand Prix could have been held on the site where there is the Sentul circuit, where we already went in 1996 and 1997, but the decision was taken to create completely new infrastructure on the island of Lombok . This was the decision of the president, the government and the local authorities, and it is obvious that this created even more expectations, even more questions, even more excitement, because we were going to find ourselves at a completely new place. We had information from the visits that people from the FIM, IRTA and Dorna made to the circuit to see the progress of the work. There was also the Superbike which ran at the end of 2021 and we did the tests in February, so we knew that everyone was working 24 hours a day, 24 days a week, but that it would be limited- limit in terms of timing for everything to be finished. We also knew that it would be a bit rock'n'roll because the island is still extremely wild with very basic infrastructures. So all this meant that it was still a somewhat special Grand Prix, especially since to go there, you have to go through Jakarta with excessively cumbersome administrative procedures: we therefore left knowing that we were going to experience things different, sometimes a little more complicated to manage, but also more exciting than in a normal Grand Prix. »
« So obviously, the circuit was built to be able to accommodate around 200 spectators, but given the problems of access to the island by plane, where, there, it was a miracle that we could bring everyone there and leave the world, given the accommodation problems, given the problems of traffic congestion, because we are talking about unpaved roads for the most part, not intended to accommodate the numerous rental cars of the teams, it was decided to reach an agreement general of all parties to limit ticket sales to 000 in the first year. It's obvious that they could have sold a lot more, but already there I think we were at saturation in terms of arrival capacities on the island, accommodation capacities and traffic capacities. So I think it was the right decision but we have to admit that it went better than we could have feared. »
« And the people there, the Indonesians, fantastic! Incredibly kind, smiling, always ready to help and obviously all crazy about MotoGP! When we arrived, we really felt a sense of human warmth, and everyone was super happy. Obviously, there are a lot of children and they were all running around wearing “Mandalika GP” or “Mandalika GP week” Grand Prix T-shirts. »
« In 2018, they unfortunately suffered a flood which completely ravaged this part of the island, so they had to rebuild, then they had to face Covid, with almost no one, and there, it was the first reopening after the destruction following the flood then Covid: it was a bit of a return to life and everyone was happy. So there were little tents everywhere with barbecues where they grilled fish, and little stalls with the colors of Mandalika. If you like, the arrival of this Grand Prix was concomitant with the reopening of the island after reconstruction and Covid, so a sort of rebirth with a lot of joy.
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« From our side, it’s obviously a very, very, very exotic Grand Prix. So obviously there is the weather which is exotic, there is the fact that you find yourself on paths where there are dogs and chickens everywhere, people who are four or five on scooters, street vendors in two-wheelers, parking lots and markets with fields of mopeds, since two-wheelers are the machine that everyone uses to get around. People wear traditional shirts and a Songkok on their heads, and all that's nice: compared to Qatar, in fact, which is still a very sanitized place with concrete everywhere, six or seven lane highways and world chain hotels in the towers, this is really the opposite. The first two Grands Prix of the season are really at the two ends of the spectrum of what we encounter during the season. »
« In the small village of Kuta where we were staying, the whole paddock was there and went out in the evening, at night since there is no lighting, trying to avoid potholes filled with water and the dogs who slept to go eat in the small local stalls. When we left, we felt that the locals were a little sad: “see you next year and maybe we will see each other again for the tests”. There had been four or five days of intense activity, and on Monday it fell back into the daily routine. »
« And then, obviously, we cannot ignore the fact that a president of a country with almost 300 million inhabitants was personally involved, invited Carmelo Ezpeleta and all the pilots to the presidential palace, received for a leather breakfast and started the parade with his G20 jacket. Jakarta is a sprawling city and major arteries were blocked for this parade. At the weekend, he came for the race and he spent Sunday, from late morning until the finish of the MotoGP, with the paddock. What surprised us is that he seems quite close to the people and that a fervor emanated from the stands towards him: as soon as he went out a little, while waiting for the start because of the rain, he was applauded and acclaimed. »
« All in all, it was a very exotic but refreshing weekend. It wasn't an adventure because we were well supervised, but it was something interesting, different and refreshing, especially when you know how the world is today. »
A sort of throwback to the past, as mentioned Paolo Simoncelli with the Mototemporada Romagnola ?
« Totally! I did the Dakar in Africa in the 80s, and when you walk through the small villages, it can very well remind you of Africa or Thailand in the 80s. I told you, apart from the cars rental for the Grand Prix, almost everyone travels on two-wheelers, bicycles or mopeds, but especially mopeds. Everyone does what they did with this type of vehicle, so you see chickens in cages on mopeds. If you go to the markets, it's really what was picked in the lush vegetation around, in a sort of open-air greenhouse, since it's raining, it's hot, it's raining, it's hot, etc. So yes, it takes you back in time and you sometimes tell yourself that we haven't necessarily moved in the right direction because, yes, they are poor, but they all tell you that they are happy: I don't Haven't seen one who complained. In some places, you are bombarded by people asking you to give them something. There, not at all! Children are not sent on commandos to try to recover something at all costs. On the contrary, they are smiling and so cute with their big wondering eyes, and there was a really nice atmosphere. »
« Afterwards, it's true that there were things that weren't easy, but that's the corollary of all that. The track was resurfaced but it was very hot and it wasn't left alone enough, so it deteriorated a little and that's why there were race reductions in Moto2 and MotoGP. It must be admitted that we were also saved by the rainy weather, because the degradation would certainly have been much greater if the races had been in the dry. But everyone played the game! We took 10 minutes more between each session to clean the floor a little to avoid too many stones being thrown. The drivers said that there were a lot fewer stones than in practice and that it was not serious that they were thrown because it was not dangerous in terms of grip, so we were able to make the Grand Prix in good conditions. The president pledged, as soon as the Grand Prix was finished, to completely resurface. It will certainly be done differently because there will be less time pressure, since everyone involved tells you that ideally speaking you should let it sit for 45 days without touching it, especially in countries where it's that hot. The problem there was that as soon as the asphalt was resurfaced, we drove quickly on it.
But despite everything, having been done so hard after working hard seven days a week, everything was pretty much up to the standards you would expect for a world championship race organized in 2022. Everything worked, the new electronic flags, transponders, timings, race direction, the circuit has been considered very good in terms of the safety of the clearance zones, etc.
And the president, despite his very busy schedule with 17 islands to manage and the move of the capital from Jakarta to Borneo, is committed to ensuring that Mandalika becomes the most beautiful race in the world championship. In any case, they will continue to work to develop this infrastructure, and I think it is possible because the route is very beautiful. We went there very early, I didn't say too early, and you feel that there is a will from the government and its president, plus great support from everyone on site, to ensure that that become a key event and one of the major events of the MotoGP world championship. »
