Roughly speaking, the distance between Misano's Marco Simoncelli circuit and the Mandalika circuit in Indonesia is about 12,000 km (or 7,316 miles to be more precise). That is not very impressive in isolation.
But the perception changes a little if we take into account all the equipment that has to be moved, including the bikes of the teams of the three categories and that of world championship promoter Dorna, between the venues staging rounds 14 and 15 of the 2024 MotoGP season in a matter of days.
The cancellation of the Kazakhstan Grand Prix less than two months ago and pre-existing commitments made with television companies forced the championship officials to look for an event to replace the inaugural visit to Almaty. After considering various alternatives, a second round at Misano held a fortnight after the San Marino GP was the least traumatic option.
However, the need to link the Emilia Romagna GP with the next event, just a week later in Indonesia, has presented numerous complications. Dorna's finely-tuned logistics division has therefore planned a minute-by-minute itinerary to ensure the bikes will take to the track in Lombok on Friday.
Carles Jorba, Dorna's Director of Operations, is an expert in this type of movement. He is confident in the roadmap, which will be set in motion just as the MotoGP race at Misano finishes, some ten minutes before 14:00 local time. Fortunately, the weekend's main event will be brought forward by one hour from its usual time, a decision taken to avoid coinciding with Formula 1's Singapore Grand Prix.
The clock will truly start ticking at 14:30 local time, 45 minutes after the end of the MotoGP race, at which point fans who have taken part in the traditional track invasion will be evacuated.
"We didn't want to compromise the public's enjoyment," Jorba tells Autosport, before beginning to detail the different stages of the journey. This begins with the loading of the trucks at the Misano circuit itself, following a particular choreography to optimise time.
"Loading a truck takes an hour, and then we will have another six hours on the road to Malpensa airport in Milan," explains Jorba. "We have already been talking for weeks with the authorities there, who have the sequence in which they will receive the boxes. Everything has to be inspected before we get on the plane."
Select new features introduced this year should make life easier for Jorba and his people.
The last of the five planes will leave Malpensa at 17:00 on Tuesday and is expected in Lombok at 15:00 on Wednesday
"In 2023, we set out measures for the manufacture of the equipment transport boxes, with specific shapes that fit the contours of the aircraft we use," reveals Jorba. "It now takes us about six hours to prepare an aircraft load; until last year it was about twice as long. This allows us to be much more efficient. It's like a puzzle once you know how the boxes are arranged.
"We already know, for example, that the Moto2 and Moto3 teams fit on a plane," the Dorna technician continues before highlighting the second key aspect of this first stop on the Asian tour, which will pass through Indonesia, Japan, Australia, Thailand and Malaysia before returning to Europe in early November for the final stop on the calendar in Valencia on 16 November.
"Until now we have been using four Boeing 747s, but thanks to the agreement we have with Qatar Airways, we will now use five Boeing 777s. This will allow us to reduce polluting emissions by around 30%, because we are going from using aircraft with four engines each to others with two, so we are going from 16 engines to ten."
Clearly, all of the above depends to some degree on circuit staff, loading and unloading operators and drivers doing their jobs. But then it all resides in the hands of external actors who can have a direct influence on whether the agenda is met, or not. Jorba knows this only too well.
"In 2022 we had a technical problem with a plane, which forced us to cancel Friday in Argentina," recalls the Catalan.
If everything goes according to schedule, the first B777 will take off from Milan - Malpensa on Monday at 13:00, will stop in Doha and from there will leave for Lombok, where it should land on Tuesday at 11:15 in the morning. The last of the five planes will leave Malpensa at 17:00 on Tuesday and is expected in Lombok at 15:00 on Wednesday.
"Once there, everything will be unloaded and then it will travel by road, with small trucks - the island's roads are not like Milan's - to Mandalika," Jorba adds.
