MotoGP organizers quelled rumors that the sport’s long-awaited return to Indonesia will be pushed back amid complaints from riders during preseason testing last weekend.
In a joint statement published yesterday, MotoGP rights holder Dorna Sports and the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) said that they “would also like to assure our Indonesian fans and all those around the world, that the 2022 Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia will take place on the planned date.”
Lombok’s Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit is set to host the second race of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship on March 18-20, marking 25 years since the premier class of motorcycle road racing was contested in Indonesia.
On Feb. 11-13, all 24 MotoGP racers went to the West Nusa Tenggara island for preseason testing. Safety concerns were raised about the Mandalika race track after riders, including defending world champion Fabio Quartararo, said he was hit in the throat by loose gravel during a test run.
Rumors that the Mandalika grand prix would be moved to the end of the year to give organizers time to fix the track followed.
But FIM and Dorna Sports said that the inaugural Mandalika MotoGP race will go ahead as scheduled. The organizers said they have received assurances from the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) that issues such as “cleanliness of the track surface and the excess of aggregate affecting parts of the circuit” will be ironed out seven days before grand prix at the very latest.
In particular, the track will be resurfaced in the section before turn 17 until after turn 5, the organizers said.
The upcoming MotoGP race in Mandalika is expected to be a boon for tourism in the region, including in neighboring Bali.
Construction of Mandalika was completed last year. The circuit hosted its first international motorcycle race, the World Superbike Championship, in November.
