Every country has a number of strict procedures and rules in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of which is Indonesia which stipulates mandatory quarantine. Then, does this also apply to the MotoGP racers and crew teams who will appear at the Mandalika Circuit?
In the coming weeks the 2022 MotoGP pre-season test at the Mandalika Circuit will be held. The plan, the test will start from 11-13 February.
After that, the Mandalika Circuit will hold a race that is included in the second series of the MotoGP calendar this season. Scheduled, the race will take place on March 18-20, 2022.
However, recently there has been news regarding Dorna Sports which is reluctant to appear in a country if the government implements mandatory quarantine. In fact, Dorna plans to cancel the race series if the racers have to quarantine first.
“We will not accept quarantine regulations, if they ask us to quarantine for 14 days in a country, then we will not go to that country,” said Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta as quoted by GP One.
Even so, Ezpeleta said it would be more efficient if a country only checked the vaccination certificates of each team crew and racer, rather than having to undergo quarantine which only bought time. This is believed to be for the smooth running of MotoGP races in each series, so that teams and riders can focus on competing on the track.
“They can ask us to bring a vaccine certificate or also complete some documents as a condition as we did last year. At the end of 2021 we held a WSBK series in Indonesia, showing that the system is working well,” he said.
Regarding this, the Vice President Director of the Mandalika Grand Prix Association (MGPA) Cahyadi Wanda said that so far the MGPA had not heard of the news. He said that so far MGPA has always communicated intensely with Dorna Sports regarding the MotoGP series in Indonesia.
“Honestly, this news was never conveyed by Dorna to us. We communicated intensely and they never conveyed anything like that to us,” said Cahyadi when contacted by detikOto, Saturday (15/1/2022).
Referring to the 2021 World Superbike (WSBK) event which was held at the Mandalika Circuit last November, the MGPA has quarantine procedures for the entire crew team as well as the riders.
“If WSBK yesterday there was a quarantine process,” he said.
When asked whether this will also be done during the MotoGP event, Cahyadi said that he was still in the process of coordinating with the Indonesian government and Dorna Sports. So far, Dorna has always been open about information regarding the preparation of the MGPA ahead of the pre-season test to the race.
“The coordination process with the government is still ongoing and Dorna is also very open about information regarding this. Later when all the processes are complete we will issue an official release,” Cahyadi said.
Cahyadi said that so far all preparations for holding MotoGP and pre-season training were going according to plan.
“But so far all implementation is according to plan. Starting from the pre season to the race,” said Cahyadi.
For information, the 2022 MotoGP pre-season test at the Mandalika Circuit will be held on 11-13 February. Meanwhile, the Indonesian MotoGP series race is scheduled to take place on March 18-20, 2022.
(rgr/mhg)
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