Rain Handler At The Mandalika MotoGP: Learning From The 2018 British GP And The 2021 WSBK Mandalika, Local Wisdom Doesn't Always Lose To Advanced Technology

The action of the rain handler Rara Istiani Wulandari grabbed the attention of netizens more than the struggles of the racers in the 2022 Mandalika MotoGP, Sunday 20 March. (Photo: MotoGP)

JAKARTA - The weather prediction ahead of the Mandalika MotoGP race at the Mandalika Circuit on March 20, has been submitted by the Deputy for Meteorology of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Guswanto. It was revealed that on Sunday it was expected that the weather would be cloudy to moderately rainy, due to the potential for tropical cyclone seeds to persist in the Timor Sea, NTT. This condition has an indirect impact on the potential for extreme weather in the surrounding area, including in NTB.

According to the weather forecast, when the Moto3 and Moto2 races were held the weather was sunny. However, ahead of MotoGP, the weather suddenly clouded over and was immediately followed by heavy rain and lightning. In the end, the race was postponed.

When the race was postponed, the figure of Rara Istiani Wulandari appeared as a rain handler. Rara's rain handler ritual was immediately broadcast to the whole world who were waiting for the MotoGP title. The conversation about the rain handler is more lively than Marc Marquez who had an accident.

Rara's figure as a rain handler really overtook the final corner of the world racing stage. It even occupied the trend of conversations on Twitter.

The reactions of netizens also flooded social media. Through the Talkwaker application with the keyword rain handler, there was a spike in tweets from 14:00 to 15:00, Sunday, March 20.

The Mandalika 2022 MotoGP was unexpectedly a racing event in wet conditions after it rained before the race. (Photo: MotoGP)

There were 85,900 conversations related to the rain handler, the keyword began to be widely discussed on March 18. The spike occurred when it was raining on Mandalika and Rara's figure was caught by the camera.

The conversation about the rain handler made Marc Marquez's keywords slightly neglected, the conversation about Marquez was chirped when he fell so he couldn't take part in the race.

At the same time, the keyword "Marc Marquez" was only used in 31,600 conversations. Monday morning, when netizens "don't care" about Marquez's condition, the conversation about the rain handler is back to being noisy.

The discussion regarding the rain handler was crowded because it invited debate among netizens. Some are grateful for the rain handler's role, some are scornful of his actions.

Variety of Tweets

One of the expressions of gratitude was conveyed by the official MotoGP account. “THANK YOU for stopping the rain! #IndonesianGP” while uploading a photo of Rara's action and the action of the Yamaha racer, Fabio Quartararo, who seemed to imitate it.

As of Monday, March 21 at 10:00, the casual tweet with a slightly joking tone has been re-shared 6,380 times, 1,100 quote tweets, and 36,100 likes. Various responses emerged. The @AzarinaUtama account replied briefly and straightforwardly, "embarrassing".

Although there are those who sneer and attribute Rara's actions to be inconsistent with religious teachings, not a few support Rara. The @lakoatkujawas account actually provides an explanation that there are clans in Mollo, NTT that have the ability to control rain, wind, and lightning.

“Again, this happens and only happens when they have a very, very close and harmonious relationship with nature. There are certain attitudes and values in life that must be lived throughout life," tweeted the @lakoatkujawas account.

Modern weather control technology through the shooting of chemical particles in the air through aircraft. (Photo: Rathbones.com)

In a video circulating on social media, Rara said that what she was doing was nothing more than the power of prayer.

“This is the power of prayer, local wisdom. I got that gift from God. So, I returned it the way I used it to serve,” said Rara.

The action of the rain handler Rara made the Mandalika MotoGP able to be held. This is different from the final World Superbike (WSBK) 2021 series at the Mandalika Circuit on November 21, which was canceled due to heavy rain and flooded circuits.

During the 2021 WSBK in Mandalika, the existence of the rain handler was not publicly mentioned. Even the Governor of West Nusa Tenggara, Zulkifliemansyah, at that time ensured that the rain handler used was a sophisticated technology for diverting rain from the Indonesian Air Force. After all, it was raining so heavily that the 2021 WSBK Mandalika race 2 was cancelled.

British MotoGP 2018 Canceled by Rain

The last time a MotoGP race was canceled was at the 2018 British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit on 26 August. As a country that has high rainfall, the UK is used to rain that often lasts more than a day. Weather prediction and diversion technology are also applied to the 2018 British MotoGP, in anticipation of bad weather.

Rain diversion technology has been known in the UK since the early 1950s. The technique used is to spread dry ice and salt in the air through the aircraft to create rain clouds in one area, while diverting rain clouds in other areas. According to The Independent, this technique, which was applied in Operation Cumulus on August 4-15, 1952 was blamed for the flash floods that killed 35 people in Devon, southwest England.

The Silverstone Circuit in the 2018 British MotoGP is in a similar condition to the Mandalika Circuit in the 2022 Mandalika MotoGP. The track surface at Silverstone, which is a former World War II air base, has also recently been re-paved. In the warm-up session in the morning, the weather was sunny but at 10:00 local time it started to get cloudy.

The dryer was deployed, but was unable to reduce the pool of water at the Silverstone Circuit in the 2018 British MotoGP, so the race had to be cancelled. (Photo: crash.net)

"We have to consider that if the conditions were like what happened in FP4, we wouldn't be able to race. Aquaplanning is very dangerous. I almost fell, and many other riders fell," said Marc Marquez, commenting on the condition of the Silverstone Circuit which was flooded by rain the day before the D day, as reported by the Repsol Honda Team in 2018.

The start of the British MotoGP was accelerated by 90 minutes to anticipate heavy rains that were predicted to fall. After all, the action was not able to prevent cancellation. Heavy rain fell when the race had not entered half the total lap, the race was stopped.

The rain didn't stop until 4 p.m. and the newly re-paved Silverstone track was flooded. The race was canceled, because the organizers saw the situation was not possible if the race was held. It was the last time the MotoGP event was canceled due to rain disturbances.

Two motorbikes belonging to the Repsol Honda team that could not be paved because the 2018 British MotoGP was canceled after the Silverstone Circuit flooded. (Photo: Honda Racing Team)

Prior to the cancellation of the 2018 British MotoGP, the 1980 Austrian GP500 was also canceled due to snow disturbances. The race was supposed to take place in April.

The ability of rain handlers to influence nature and weather through supernatural powers is indeed difficult to prove scientifically, let alone technology. However, the facts show that the role of the handler made the rain stop and the Mandalika MotoGP continued. One more advantage of highlighting local wisdom is: adding an entertainment element to the Mandalika 2022 MotoGP.