MotoGP Mandalika 2022 is running successfully despite a number of problems. Next year is the time for the audience to be truly entertain when watching the Mandalika MotoGP.
MotoGP Mandalika presents a complete entertainment package for the audience: from exciting races, off-the-circuit racer action, to the drama of the appearance of a rain handler.
There has never been a MotoGP race series that made a scene like the Mandalika MotoGP. There has never been a race series that has been able to keep all parties entertained like the race at the Mandalika Circuit.
Much praise is given to the Mandalika Circuit which is considered a success in holding MotoGP. Racers, team owners, and foreign media have praised the Mandalika MotoGP, which is considered a different race series.
Even though there was an asphalt track problem that appeared one month before the Mandalika MotoGP race started, the Mandalika Grand Prix Association (MGPA) and the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) made an extraordinary comeback to hold the race.
“You have an incredibly beautiful circuit, this will be a super race,” said Tech3 KTM boss Herve Poncharal to CNNIndonesia.com on the sidelines of the Mandalika MotoGP.
It is undeniable that the Mandalika Circuit is one of, or even in the number one position, the most beautiful circuit. No other circuit in the world has such a magnificent view as the Mandalika Circuit.
But beautiful is not enough. The Mandalika Circuit must also be a comfortable circuit for everyone present, including the audience.
The Mandalika Circuit has indeed received sky-high praise from MotoGP racers and teams, but we cannot turn a blind eye to the complaints and problems experienced by the thousands of spectators who attended the Mandalika Circuit.
Many spectators were stranded at the Mandalika Circuit after watching MotoGP. They find it difficult to get a shuttle bus that is prepared to transport them to the private car park office.
It takes up to 3 hours for the vehicle to exit onto the highway in front of the circuit from the parking area at the Mandalika Circuit which is only less than 200 meters away. I felt that myself after watching the Mandalika MotoGP race.
After leaving the Mandalika Circuit area, extraordinary traffic jams also occurred. It takes 4 hours to get to Lombok International Airport. And it took me 5 hours to get to the hotel where I was staying in Mataram City.
The audience is one of the important factors in the MotoGP event, especially for the Mandalika Circuit which is holding a race for the first time.
The Sepang Circuit took about a decade or 10 years to be able to profit from hosting the Malaysian MotoGP with one of the largest revenues from spectator tickets.
For this reason, the audience must be really entertain so that they feel comfortable and have a beautiful experience when they are present at the Mandalika Circuit, so that they can’t wait to see MotoGP again next year.
After all, in the end, if the audience is satisfied, the Mandalika Circuit will get the result. However, to be able to satisfy the audience at the Mandalika Circuit is not only a matter for MGPA and ITDC as circuit managers and owners.
It takes hard work from the parties involved. From the side of MGPA and ITDC, they must ensure that the infrastructure around the Mandalika Circuit is friendly to the audience. One of the important things that must be addressed immediately is the parking area at the Mandalika Circuit.
Some of the roads, especially the drop off lanes for spectators on the shuttle bus to ticket checks, have not been paved. The streets are still dirt mixed with stones, so when it rains, the streets become muddy and make it difficult for spectators to access the road to or from the stands.
In addition to the roads around the parking lot and the path to enter the circuit, another thing that needs to be improved is the infrastructure outside the Mandalika Circuit area.
One of the causes of traffic jams outside the circuit area is the road that is still narrow. There are only two lanes on the road outside the Mandalika Circuit to the BIL-Mandalika Bypass.
Plus small vehicles parked on the side of the road and spectators passing by, making the road conditions outside the Mandalika Circuit really chaotic after the race was over.
Experience covering the Malaysian MotoGP and Japanese MotoGP, the crowd after the race was unavoidable. However, the breakdown time for the crowd in Sepang or Motegi is much faster than in Mandalika.
That’s why a bigger road access is needed to and from the Mandalika Circuit so that congestion problems like the 2022 Mandalika MotoGP don’t happen again.
But don’t worry. MotoGP Mandalika 2022 is the first edition of many years of racing to be held at the Mandalika Circuit. Indonesia still has plenty of time to be the perfect host.
Now MGPA, ITDC, and all related parties have time until before the 2022 WSBK which will be held 11-13 November. The time of about eight months can be used to repair the Mandalika Circuit facilities.
Eight months should be enough time to at least make the Mandalika Circuit more welcoming to the audience. Because in the end the audience also needs to be pampered.
