In the mid-1990s, the World Motorcycle Championship raced on the Sentul circuit in Indonesia – Now there is the long-awaited comeback on the new Mandalika circuit
After a 25-year break, the Motorcycle World Championship is back in Indonesia. The venue has changed. In the mid-1990s, the race was held at the Sentul International Circuit. Now the premiere on the newly built Mandalika circuit is on the agenda.
The Sentul circuit was built in the early 1990s and was located south of Jakarta. The original plan was to bring Formula 1 to Indonesia, but this plan was never realised. Instead, the focus was on motorbike racing.
Between 1994 and 1997, the Superbike World Championship made a guest appearance in Sentul. In 1996, the premiere of the World Motorcycle Championship finally took place. Mick Doohan won the 500cc race with his Honda. The following year, Doohan was narrowly beaten by his team-mate Tadayuki Okada.
In 1998 Sentul disappeared from the 500cc calendar again. The reason for this was the Asian crisis of 1997. Indonesia was one of the countries hardest hit by this financial and economic crisis. The Grand Prix could therefore no longer be financed.
No rider from back then is there now. Valentino Rossi competed in both races in Sentul in the 125cc class. In his first year in the World Championship in 1997, the Italian entered the winner’s list in the eight-litre class.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, Indonesia set itself the goal of becoming an attractive destination for international tourism. In the south of the island of Lombok, the construction of a large leisure area was started. Hotels, golf courses, amusement parks and so on are to be built.
The Mandalika Street Circuit is part of this plan. It is not a classic street circuit like Macau, but the track is partly opened to traffic when there are no races. Hence the designation as a street circuit.
The new MotoGP circuit is located in the south of the island of Lombok on the coast. The weather is very changeable in this region. In mid-March, the humidity is usually high. Temperatures reach over 30 degrees Celsius. Heavy rainfall is also not uncommon.
The 4.3-kilometre-long track has six left turns and eleven right turns. The longest straight is only 500 metres. Construction work is still underway around the track. During the MotoGP test in mid-February, the grandstands were still being erected.
Many buildings are to be built around the track in the coming years, including hotels. The entire construction projects have been criticised by the United Nations, as there have been reports that landowners have been expropriated.