Ahead of the 2021 World Superbike Mandalika event, the Ducati Team was furious because the cargo of the motorbike belonging to the Italian manufacturer was opened illegally by local organizers. However, only Customs and Excise has the right to do so.
However, in the end, the Mandalika Grand Prix Association (MGPA), as part of the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) Group, apologized for the excitement over the motorcycle cargo belonging to the Ducati team being unloaded at the Mandalika Circuit, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).
MGPA also regrets that irresponsible parties have approached motorbikes, took videos without permission, and published them, causing misunderstandings among motorcycle racing industry players.
"We apologize to Indonesian and international motorcycle racing lovers for the incident that occurred," said MGPA President Director Ricky Baheramsjah in a written statement quoted by Antara, Thursday (11/11/2021).
WSBK Executive Director Gregorio Lavilla apologized. The local worker was fired. But the business doesn't end there.
A video of a man in a white shirt holding a Ducati motorcycle has been widely circulated on social media. In addition, there is another video in the form of YouTube content showing an open motorbike from a local Lombok YouTuber.
For this incident, both the names of Ducati and Mandalika became a trending topic on Twitter. Not only on Twitter, MGPA's Instagram account, @TheMandalikaGP, was also attacked by netizens with scathing criticism.
"Please give more guidance to the executive committee so that there are no similar incidents in future events."
"Please tighten staff recruitment again, so you don't embarrass yourself."
"There are still many human resources in Indonesia who understand ethics and regulations... Immediate evaluation."
"Just about to start, I'm embarrassed, min.. Please use professionals. There are so many YouTubers MandalikaGP, whether they are hired by the media team or workers who share content."
"It hasn't even started to make Mandalika's name bad because because of tacky people, unboxing there are no rules for content and looking cool, it's even embarrassing for the country."
"Please develop human resources again, this is an international event, not a military war, all eyes of Indonesia and even the world are on Mandalika. Don't just unbox people's motorbikes without understanding the regulations. This incident is very embarrassing, hopefully it will be a lesson for MGPA."
"Unboxing is a package from shopee, not a ducati motorbike."
"Please @themandalikagp more stringent supervision, don't let the next unboxing happen. Those who make mistakes are your subordinates, who are ashamed of Indonesian citizens."
"The circuit is international class, but the quality of human resources? It needs to be given a lot of information and knowledge of all field officers if possible, so that there are no more people who have no interest in entering the circuit area, sir, don't worry about trivial things next year, big events for the Mandalika circuit can be canceled."
