What you will have to do to get to Sepang demonstrates it: life in the MotoGP paddock in the world after is as bleak as elsewhere, especially when thinking about the world before. The health restrictions required by the crisis of the same nature are testing the vocations and the Yamaha team manager that is Lynn Jarvis admitted that at over 60 years old, it was starting to tire him. However, we must pass under these caudine forks and after the Holidays, the time will come to remember them. Because the Sepang off-season tests will arrive in Malaysia which promises a stay with the air of judicial control...
The pandemic is still ongoing and with the successive variants, we have probably not yet finished suffering its consequences. To measure them, it is necessary to mention what has just been required of the protagonists of the Grands Prix to reach the promised land of Sepang…which last hosted a MotoGP test in February 2020.
To go to Sepang for the MotoGP shakedown test (January 31 to February 2) then for the IRTA test for the MotoGP class (February 5/6), you will have to follow a strict protocol. It will then be the same for the first MotoGP test from February 11 to 13 on the Mandalika Street Circuit on the Indonesian island of Lombok.
Dorna informed that it will be essential to prove two vaccinations on the Participants Platform before Monday January 3. A negative PCR test result, which must not be more than 48 hours old, must be submitted before departure. As usual, a number of questions about the event (date and type of arrival, which hotel, etc.) must be answered in order to enable contact tracing. A copy of the passport must also be uploaded and the travel document must be valid for another six months after entry.
But that's not all: the Malaysian authorities have prescribed other measures: all participants, team members and media must stay in one of the two "bubble hotels", otherwise severe sanctions will be imposed . The only accommodations available are Sama-Sama Hotel and Mövenpick Hotel near Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). A negative PCR test (valid for 48 hours) must be documented before departing for Malaysia. Upon arrival at KLIA, all participants must undergo another PCR test and isolate in their hotel room until the result is available. The result will be available in 12 to 24 hours.
"Finding ourselves without tests at Sepang would be a real waste, a big problem"
All participants must download the “Malaysian Government Covid App”, which is mandatory for all travelers. During the stay, all participants will be tested periodically for Covid-19. Additionally, people entering the country are not allowed to stay in the following countries for 14 days before arrival: South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Malawi. For residents of these countries, there is a strict ban on entry into Malaysia. Brothers Binder know what to expect...
"IWe have to keep our eyes open with this Covid, because it is scary again and MotoGP also risks paying the consequences » commented on mowmag Carlo Pernat on this situation. “ We received an email from Dorna with instructions on all the rules we will have to follow in Malaysia during the tests. They are very rigid, with hotels already assigned, transfers organized and no possibility of going out. On the one hand this is a good sign, because it means that Sepang tests are confirmed, but on the other it is an indication of a worrying situation that could blow up everything at any time » analyzes the Italian.
But it’s always better than nothing, because this nothing would be synonymous with nothingness… “ This would be a big problem, the manufacturers have already shown something new in Jerez, but we will see the real 2022 bikes in Sepang. Take Honda for example, it seems they have turned everything upside down to be able to make a machine that can be driven not only by Marc Marquez. Finding themselves without tests would be a real waste for them ". And for others too, because the transfer market is open and will need the benchmarks given by the Malaysian service to negotiate contracts.
