Street parade in Indonesia’s capital – 20 MotoGP stars ride through Jakarta on production motorbikes and are greeted by enthusiastic fans
The MotoGP weekend in Indonesia kicked off on Wednesday with a parade in the capital Jakarta. For the first time in 25 years, Indonesia is hosting a motorbike grand prix. And this milestone was duly celebrated, as MotoGP is very popular in this country.
Wednesday morning, 20 riders gathered at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta. Almost all the MotoGP riders were there, plus some from the smaller classes. They were received by President Joko Widodo. In front of the palace there was the “starting line-up”.
President Widodo opened the parade and sent the riders off. They were joined by participants from local fan clubs of Honda, Suzuki, Ducati and Yamaha. The convoy eventually rode a four-kilometre route through the city.
The pavements were lined with many fans who wanted to catch a glimpse of their stars. The destination was the Kempinski Hotel. There, the assembled fans had the opportunity to take photos with the MotoGP stars and get autographs.
“Many years ago we came to Indonesia for events organised by Honda,” said Marc Marquez. “Since my first visit, I felt that the people here follow MotoGP very closely. They deserve a Grand Prix and now they have a Grand Prix!”
Full grandstands are expected around the new Mandalika circuit in the coming days. “We knew many years ago,” says Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta, “that MotoGP is very popular in Indonesia.”
“We think it will be a very nice event and very important for the sport. We hope it will be the first of many his races. We have a long-term contract with Indonesia. Everyone has been working together to make it a success. “
