W. Sumatra to host 2nd leg Gudang Garam motocross
JAKARTA (JP): The province of West Sumatra has been chosen to host the second leg of the Gudang Garam international motocross championships, from March 11 to March 12.
West Sumatra capital Bukittinggi will probably be the venue for the event. West Sumatra was selected for the motocross event because it already has a keen audience, and to promote tourism there.
West Sumatra has twice held the motocross championships, at Padang in 1996 and Bukittinggi two years before that.
The first leg of the event was held in Tegal, Central Java, on Feb. 7 and Feb. 8.
Aep Dadang Supriatna, of Bandung, West Java, won the Tegal meet collecting 40 points on a Honda.
Second place went to Irwan Ardiansyah of Yogyakarta with 34 points, and third place was shared between veteran rider Johnny Pranatha of Surabaya and Andi Suryanto of Yogyakarta who each collected 28 points.
Twenty-four crossers took part in the two-day races in Tegal. Six Australian riders participated in this Central Java town.
From West Sumatra, the championships will continue on to Surakarta for the third leg, May 2 and May 3. The fourth leg will be held in Samarinda (Sept. 5 and Sept. 6), the fifth in Palu (Oct. 3 and Oct. 4) and the sixth and final leg in Ujungpandang (Oct. 10 and Oct. 11).
The organizer expects the West Sumatra event to attract more local and foreign riders. The West Sumatra provincial government has agreed to host the two-day races.
The race track has yet to be decided on. But according to the organizer, discussions are underway between them and the West Sumatra provincial government. It is expected that the outcome of discussions will be announced at the end of February.
The organizer of the West Sumatra event is offering a total cash prize of Rp 14.5 million for the 80cc, 125cc and 250cc categories.
Registration will open in the first week of March. The entry fee is Rp 25,000 per motorcycle.
World championships
The 125cc world motocross championship, originally scheduled to be held at the Pugeran circuit in Yogyakarta on March 22, was canceled because the date is less than two weeks after the close of the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly.
Faryd Sungkar, secretary of the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Motor Association, said Thursday that a second reason for the cancellation was that the International Motorcycle Federation (FIM) did not want to change the calender of this year's world 125cc races.
"We asked for the Yogayakarta meet be moved to May but FIM said it was too late and they feared it would obstruct the calender of races already prepared," Faryd said.
Faryd, organizer of the Yogayakarta meet, said all the preparations had already been made for the race.
"We received a letter from the minister for youth affairs and sport prohibiting activities two weeks before and after the close of the general session." (lnt)