Superbike championships likely to remain at Sentul

Superbike championships likely to remain at Sentul

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is poised to stage one leg of the
Superbike World Championship for the foreseeable future and so
bolster the annual program of the Indonesian Motor Association.

Director of the Sentul circuit Tinton Suprapto said at a press
conference yesterday that although he has only reached an
informal agreement reached with the promoter of the world
championship, the Flammini Group, it is likely that the race has
a bright future here.

"Sentul was built for international events, and the Superbike
event is one of the races we want to stage constantly," Tinton
said.

Indonesia will host the World Superbike Championship, the
eighth leg of the season, on Saturday and Sunday for the third
year running. It will climax a trio of world-class events hosted
by Indonesia this year. The other two were the World Grand Prix
Motorcycling Championships and the World Rally Championships.

"In Europe, Superbiking looks more popular than the
motorcycling grand prix, merely because the big-size motorbikes
ridden in the Superbike are common on the streets," Tinton said.

The Indonesian government has thrown its full weight behind
the million-dollar automotive sporting events, as indicated by
the many cabinet ministers who are on the board of patrons of the
races' organizing committee.

But unlike the world motorcycling championships last April,
the Superbike race lacks promotion.

"We admit that the promotion for the Superbike is not as
aggressive as for the motorcycling grand prix. It's because we
have had to wait for the video tape of the last Superbike race at
Brands Hatch, England," Sentul's commercial director Jenny
Rachman said.

Tinton said that all 50 pits at the Sentul circuit have been
booked for the races.

"I estimate that more than 80 riders, including nine
Indonesians, will compete in the championship leg," he said. If
his prediction is accurate, the number will be double last year's
figure.

After the seventh leg, Australian Troy Corser, who failed to
qualify in the season's opener, leads the standings with 229
points. Aaron Slight of New Zealand is in the second place with
221 points, followed by defending champion Carl Fogarty of
Britain with 181 points.

Tickets for this weekend's race cost between Rp 5,000 (US$2.1)
and Rp 20,000. (yan)