Indonesia hopes to make its presence felt in the international motorbike racing circuit by securing a deal with a France-based entity for a street track project in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

The street track is aimed at hosting the world-class MotoGP motorbike championship, known for producing legendary rider Valentino Rossi of Italy, in 2019.

France’s Vinci Construction Grands Projects has closed a Rp 6 trillion (US$450 million) deal to build a 120-hectare tourist complex along with the circuit, which will be located in a special economic zone, the KEK Mandalika zone, in Central Lombok. Lombok is a neighboring island to the east of Bali.

Besides the circuit, the complex will also feature seven hotels and a convention center.

The investment agreement was signed with state-run Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), which has developed and operates the Nusa Dua tourism complex in Bali.

“We’ve secured the deal. Vinci is the investor, while ITDC is the owner of the site. [The investment] will cover the construction of seven hotels, the MotoGP circuit and a convention center,” said ITDC director Abdulbar M. Mansoer recently.

The framework of the contract deal was signed by Vinci director for Southeast Asia and China, Michel Oliveres, and Abdulbar last week in Jakarta.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and French President Francois Hollande, who was on a state visit to Indonesia, were present at the ceremony.

A further study is in progress to produce a business plan for the complex, as well as to create a master plan for the circuit construction.

The circuit construction will be handled by Britain’s Roadgrip Motorsports UK Ltd. in cooperation with Bahrain-based Mrk1 Consulting.

Roadgrip specializes in circuit branding, run-off design, friction testing and track cleaning. Its motorsport track painting teams have worked in several prestigious racing tracks around the world, including the Singapore Formula One GP Street Circuit, Formula One’s (F1) Circuit of the Americas in the US and the Silverstone circuit in the UK for F1 and MotoGP.

Meanwhile, the Mrk1 Consulting team has a wealth of venue management experience, having worked on a number of well-established venues such as Brands Hatch and Silverstone and brand new facilities such as the Bahrain International Circuit, Buddh International Circuit, Yas Marina Circuit, Chang International Circuit, Zhegjiang International Circuit and the 2016 Baku European Grand Prix.

The future circuit in Mandalika is planned to adapt the style of Singapore’s as well as Macau’s street circuits, where public roads are used for racing.

“It won’t be built as a closed circuit,” said Abdulbar, adding that it would also use the “green circuit” concept, which means the track offers hill and beach views.

Abdulbar hopes the racing circuit will lure more investment to Mandalika in the future. In most international racing championships, one race event has the potential to welcome up to 50,000 visitors.

Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the President had approved the circuit project plan.

“The government has granted permission to speed up the construction project in Mandalika complex, especially the investment in hotels and the circuit,” Luhut said during his visit to Mandalika last weekend.

Luhut came to the area as part of the government’s effort to settle land disputes in the economic zone.

Out of a total 1,174 ha of land, 29 ha remain in dispute.

“The Mandalika economic zone has the potential of providing jobs to 20,000 people in the future,” he added.

Previously, Indonesia had planned to build a MotoGP circuit in Palembang. The plan, however, has not yet come to fruition.

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