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North Central Timor holds Crossborder Road Race sport event
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East Nusa Tenggara is holding a sports event called Crossborder Road Race (Road Race Lintas Batas) at Oemanu – Kefamenanu circuit, North Central Timor (TTU) Regency. (Shutterstock/File)
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ast Nusa Tenggara is holding a sports event called Crossborder Road Race (Road Race Lintas Batas) at Oemanu – Kefamenanu circuit, North Central Timor (TTU) Regency.
The event that runs from July 22 to 23 is a follow-up of the music concert which featured The Voice Indonesia alumni Mario G Klau as the main performer.
“After the Mario Gerardus Klau music concert that was successfully held in Bumi Biinmafo, we are now holding Crossborder Road Race, a collaborative event between Kefa Racing Team, North Central Timor regency administrations and Indonesian Motor Sports Federation (IMI) NTT chapter. Our target is to have 1,000 tourists from Timor Leste to come and stay here. We're also targeting to have 6,000 local tourists,” says TTU tourism department secretary Yohanes.
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With 'Safety For' as the grand theme, the race is targeting 148 racers with 17 groups are from Timor Leste, 10 groups from Oekusii and nine groups from Suai. They are competing to win trophies from Regional Police Chief (Kapolda), TTU regent and Police Chief (Kapolres) TTU Cup Race 2017.
The race is divided into 17 classifications, three categories, beginners and open classes. The beginners' category is divided into two classes: Two-stroke standard underbone to 125cc beginner’s local and sports standard (std) to 155cc beginner’s local. The open class consists of no-tuneup four-stroke underbone to 125cc beginner’s/seeded, no-tuneup four-stroke underbone to 150cc beginner’s/seeded, two-stroke 116cc beginner’s/seeded, two-stroke std to 125cc beginner’s/seeded, matic std to 130cc beginner’s/seeded, tune-up matic to 150cc beginner’s/seeded, four-stroke std to 130 beginner’s, special king class to 140cc, sport std to 155cc open.
“The Road Race also showcases performances such as dancing, free-styling, live music from local singers from Kefamenanu and Oecusse district,” says the event's committee head Hendricus K.O Meko SE.
Tourism ministry's archipelago tourism marketing development deputy Esthy Reko Astuti hopes that other than being a place of cultural festivals for both Indonesia and Timor Leste, North Central Timor can also become the arena for sports tourism.
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“We can definitely ask Timor Leste to be involved in our festivals because the eastern and western parts of Timor Island have the same culture, sports tourism can now become a new attraction. Every event can help strengthen the relationship between the two neighboring countries,” says Esthy.
“There are 21 events that are going to be held throughout 2017, after the Mario G Klau concert and Crossborder Road Race, the ministry has prepared a lineup of international-scale events with four are aimed for TTU,” Esthy adds.
North Central Timor is a border area between Oecusse District and Timor Leste, located precisely at the entrance gate to Napan, Hau Meni Ana and Wini and the gate to Mota’ain border area.
Along the demarcation line in the area, an event called Market Day is usually held there where residents of Oecusse and Timor Leste put out their selling items such as hats, bags, T-shirts, pashmina and other clothing that can be bought using Rupiah currency. (asw)
