No, this is not an image of an Indonesian circuit set to host a 2021 MotoGP race

This article is more than one year old.
Published on February 27, 2019 at 03:00
1 min read
By AFP Indonesia

A Facebook post has a picture it claims shows an Indonesian circuit scheduled to host a MotoGP race in 2021. The photo is actually of the Sepang circuit in neighbouring Malaysia.

The post was quickly shared hundreds of times after being entered into Facebook on February 22, 2019, the same day that Indonesian authorities announced that a MotoGP race would be held on Lombok island from 2021.

The misleading post has an image showing an aerial view of a motorsport track and has a caption that translates to English as: “Look at this one, Prabowo supporters. Indonesia has officially been named as one of the MotoGP hosts in 2021. The world-class Mandalika circuit in NTB; the circuit with the most beautiful view in the world. The government does not need theories, let alone fictive things.”

Screenshot of the misleading post.

It referenced Prabowo Subianto, the only challenger to incumbent Joko Widodo in Indonesia’s presidential poll in April.

Here is an AFP report on the MotoGP hosting announcement. Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province is the area of the planned MotoGP track.

AFP found through a Google Reverse Image search that the photograph does not show the Indonesian circuit. It is a picture of the MotoGP host Sepang circuit in Malaysia, which is available on this link from the race’s website.

Below is the screenshot of the picture on MotoGP’s website:

Screenshot of the original photo from motogp.com.

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