Jokowi Confirmed Not To Ride With MotoGP Racers In Jakarta

President Jokowi in Mandalika/Photo: Setkab

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has certainly not participated in the parade of dozens of MotoGP racers. Jokowi will only accept and let them drive around Jakarta.

"So the plan is that the president will accept these racers, starting with breakfast together and then there will be a brief chat at the palace," said Deputy Director of the Mandalika Grand Prix Association (MGPA) Cahyadi Wanda to reporters, Tuesday, March 15.

After receiving dozens of racers, Jokowi will release them to ride. Dozens of racers and even then will parade from the Merdeka Palace to the Kempingski Hotel, Central Jakarta.

"The drivers will be officially released by the president as well as congratulate them on competing in Mandalika," said Cahyadi.

Director of Traffic Polda Metro Jaya Kombes Sambodo Purnomo Yogo also emphasized that Jokowi would not be in the group of the MotoGP racers. However, the reasons behind it are not detailed.

"Mr. Jokowi only took it off at the Palace," said Sambodo. Twenty racers of various classes will parade in Jakarta, Wednesday, March 16. This parade activity was carried out before leaving for Lombok to undergo the second series of races in the MotoGP calendar next weekend.

The Pertamina Mandalika Circuit will host the Grand Prix of Indonesia on March 18-20 after the world's most prestigious motorcycle racing event has been absent for 25 years in Indonesia.

Before heading to the circuit on the southern coast of Lombok Island, big names such as Marc Marquez, Joan Mir, Francesco Bagnaia, Andrea Dovizioso, will bring MotoGP excitement to the capital in a procession that will start and end at the Merdeka Palace.