Rain Charmer Not Racers Who Shook MotoGP Mandalika

TheIndonesia.id - Heavy rains hit the Mandalika Circuit and it forced to postpone MotoGP Mandalika start on Sunday afternoon, March 20, 2022. While waiting for the rain to stop, a woman was seen walking barefoot around the circuit located on the island of Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

A group of photographers captured this woman's action. Spectators looked and captured the unique moment as well.

Before going around the circuit, a woman named Rara Isti Wulandari was holding a copper cup, initiating a ritual. There was burning incense in her left hand. Then she twirled the incense over the cup while his mouth was seen muttering.

"The Master," the Twitter account @MotoGP captured the moment in a video posted at 2:23 p.m. Central Indonesia Time. After doing the ritual, she walked barefoot around the circuit while her mouth recited a spell.

The rain charmer's action also attracted the attention of a racer, Fabio Quartararo. He imitated the rain charmer by turning a stick using a plastic bowl. While waiting for the rain to stop, the Yamaha MotoGP racer imitated the rain charmer style at the paddock.

"And the apprentice," @MotoGP captured the moment and commented on by adding a laughing smiley afterward.

Half an hour after the tweet showed Rara in action, the @MotoGP continued the previous tweet by writing in capital letters and using an exclamation mark. "IT WORKED!"

Indeed, less than half an hour after her action, the weather at the Mandalika Circuit began to improve and the rain began to subside so that the race could start again. The rain charmer was assumed to have succeeded in driving away the rain so that the race had started at 15.45 Indonesia central time.

It's not just MotoGP who are fascinated by this supernatural skill. State-Owned Enterprise Minister Erick Thohir also shared this moment. Erick captured Rara's action walking around the circuit barefoot.

"This is the action of the Mandalika MotoGP rain charmer, Mrs. Rara! #Local Wisdom #Proud of Indonesia," wrote Erick Thohir.

Of course, this tweet invites the pros and cons of netizens. Thousands of responses come over the minister's tweet.

Weather Challenge

The weather is a challenge for the Mandalika Circuit. In addition to deploying rain charmer like Rara, the government also deployed the National Research and Innovation Agency together with the Indonesian Air Force to carry out weather engineering.

Rara herself was officially employed by the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation as the SOE company that owns the Mandalika Circuit which also oversees the Mandalika Grandprix Association (MGPA) as the organizing committee. Rara explained that so far she has done quite well in carrying out duties.

Prior to playing the Mandalika 2022 MotoGP event on March 18-20, she had been asked to regulate the weather during the process of paving the track from February 15 to March 10. "Foreign parties [from Dorna], they are happy with the rain charmer. I am nicknamed Mrs. Pawang or The Prayer. I can request 24 hours without rain when paving March 6-8," said the rain charmer who was born in Jayapura, Papua, on October 22, 1983.

Regarding the main event of the 2022 MotoGP Mandalika, Rara explained that on March 18-19 there was indeed rain in the Mandalika Circuit area. However, it was a request from the committee in order to lower the temperature for the comfort of the riders.

"For the race from March 18-19, it was raining in the morning and the afternoon is gloomy so that the riders are comfortable. Because the asphalt temperature cannot be above 50 degrees Celsius, automatically the weather cannot be hot, it will automatically call for rain and cloudy, but it cannot be a flood," explained Rara.

And indeed the weather in Mandalika on the third day of this event was a bit extreme. In addition to heavy rain, lightning was recorded striking the race track, causing a fire. The lightning strike left a blaze of fire which was quickly extinguished due to the muffled rainwater.