Miguel Oliveira's inaugural victory of the 2022 MotoGP is not only a great personal achievement for him, but also for Indonesia. After waiting 25 years, the MotoGP finally returned to Indonesia and did not disappoint. The event was a huge success for the country, the people, and for international fans and spectators. The event had many positive impacts that were felt by the government and the community, especially the people of Lombok.

Indonesia’s Rising

During the MotoGP event, there were close ​​to 370 marshals on duty at the Mandalika Circuit. The majority of these marshals were locals from surrounding villages. Prior to working at the circuit, they were given extensive training and seminars on what to watch out for, pay attention to during the race, and also firefighting training for a week.

For the MotoGP, the marshals were divided into two specialities; one being a track marshal (helping the racers) and the other being a flag marshal (raising the flag during a match). The Mandalika Circuit has 31 flag marshal posts that requires two people and 34 track marshal posts that require five people including a radioman, a fireman, and helpers. The leader of IMI (Indonesian Motor Association) ensured that 90% of the marshals were residents of West Nusa Tenggara.

The owners of MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) also reaped the profits of this event in excess of Rp. 1.2 billion, this number was obtained from visitors and spectators. Although previously the number of spectators was said to be limited to 60,000 people, the estimated number exceeded that and was close to 102,801 people. Despite the increased risk of COVID-19 infection, the enthusiasm and support of the MotoGP fans was not affected and everyone enjoyed this thrilling event at the Mandalika circuit. The profits of 300 MSMEs from all over Indonesia are expected to cover losses caused by the pandemic.

Meanwhile, in the tourism and transportation sectors, the Mandalika MotoGP provided the opportunity for unlimited promotions of mainstay tourism destinations of Lombok, and Indonesia in general. This international event generated a revenue of Rp. 500 billion which was accumulated from ticket sales, accommodation, flight tickets, and other aspects relating to the event.

Almost all hotels surrounding the circuit were fully booked, all restaurant workers were re-employed, and travel workers could offer increased services by taking travelers to and from destinations during the event. Following two years of the travel industry being slumped, they were finally able to return to their activities and increase their revenue.

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The World's Eyes Are On Indonesia

Indonesia is starting to be recognized as a world-class location for international events and there is a good reason for it; Indonesia is considered to be highly successful and organized when it comes to world-class racing events. Even the MotoGP circuit, which is located in one of Indonesia's 5 super-priority destinations, is considered to have some of the most beautiful views in the world.

The presence of this event alone created an extraordinary country image and boosted recognition around the world. The event included TV exposure in 207 countries, with 31,525 hours of broadcast, which almost reached 2 billion viewers. The MotoGP also utilized 9,454 international media representatives and around 3,000 print media sources from various MotoGP-loving countries. This increases exposure for Indonesia with the rest of the world’s population.

Indonesia last hosted the MotoGP in 1996 and 1997 at the Sentul international circuit. Finally, after a long wait of 25 years, the dream for Indonesia to host it again came true. Indonesia has also signed a cooperation contract with Dorna Sport for 10 years to organize future MotoGP events in Indonesia.

The FIM organization (World Motorcycle Sports Federation) has also set the circuit as a ‘Class A’ classification, based on the results of homologation carried out some time ago.

It's no wonder that many world racing event organizers are starting to look at the Mandalika Circuit, including several automotive communities who want to initiate a test drive at the circuit, which of course will be accompanied by high safety standards.