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)