UPDATE Nov. 12: In a statement, Ducati clarified that despite what has been reported by several media outlets, neither Paolo Ciabatti nor the company’s racing team division have made any statements concerning the unboxing scandal at the Mandalika International Street Circuit.
Original story follows.
The illegal opening of a Ducati cargo box ahead of the upcoming Superbike World Championship (WSBK) grand prix in Mandalika, Lombok is making headlines today, after an employee from the local organizer was alleged to have fiddled with the motorbike inside the container.
According to a report from Speedweek.com, several pictures and a video showed an employee from the Mandalika Grand Prix Association (MGPA) “opening a Ducati cargo box and fiddling with factory rider Michael Rinaldi’s motorcycle.”
The 13th round of the WSBK is scheduled to take place from Nov. 19 to 21. Only customs officials are authorized to open freight crates, aside from the team to which they belong, in order to prevent industrial espionage and tampering.
Quoting WSBK Executive Director Gregorio Lavilla, the publication reported that the employee in question has since been fired, although MGPA today denied that the person was affiliated with them.
Ducati’s sport director, Paolo Ciabatti, was reportedly livid upon hearing the news and referred to the incident as a setback that last occurred 40 years ago and “only in third world countries,” according to Speedweek.com. Coconuts is unable to independently verify the report.
As more details emerge following the initial report, the YouTube channel connected with the controversial “unboxing” video, Soul kuta lombok, appears to have taken down the original video at the time of publication. The user wrote a clarification on the comment section — which appears to have been edited at least once — and claimed that the cargo box had been opened by customs officials, explaining that “when the filming took place, the motorcycle was already opened.”
The person also wrote that he was at fault for filming the process, which “he did not know at all was not supposed to be published.”
“I am uncouth, I am dumb,” he wrote on one version of the clarification circulating widely online today.
The user was likely responding to mounting comments from Indonesian netizens, many of whom chided him for “bringing shame” to Indonesia. Indeed, the incident brought so much shame to motorsport-obsessed Indonesia that even the House of Representatives (DPR) demanded that local organizers apologize.
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