JAKARTA: Indonesia’s first MotoGP race in 25 years will attract the biggest crowd for any sporting event in the country since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, when a sellout-out crowd of 60,000 fans descend on the tourist island of Lombok.
The country of 270 million people is motorbike mad – many get around on two wheels – and there is a palpable sense of excitement at the prospect of world-class racing returning, The Jakarta Post reports.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo hosted 20 racers at the presidential palace in the nation’s capital on Wednesday before the launch of a parade in the buildup to Sunday’s grand prix at the beachside Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit.
“Our target of 60,000 tickets has been sold, thank God,” Widodo said a news conference.
“I told them that there are 122 million of motorcycles in Indonesia,” Widodo said. “So, they have a huge fans in Indonesia and (MotoGP race) here will make them so happy.”
About 30,000 spectators attended the final round of the Superbike World Championship at Pertamina Mandalika last November, AP reports.
Sunday’s race is the second grand prix of the season. Enea Bastianini of the Gresini Ducati team won the season opener in Qatar early this month.
