Jaya Ancol Circuit was the first automotive circuit in Indonesia. It was built in 1969 and was closed in 1992. It was located in the Ancol area, North Jakarta. [1]
At the time of the construction of this circuit, a lot of sponsors spent a large sum of money that was considered huge for that time. Sponsorships included the companies Astra and PT Indocement, which contributed Rp. 30 million to PT Jaya Ancol Circuit, which at that time was both the manager and the one who built the circuit. Tinton Soeprapto, a racer who has many achievements and is the father of 2 national racers namely Ananda Mikola and Moreno Soeprapto, was appointed as the mascot of racers by Ali Sadikin who was then governor of DKI. This was intended to attract more foreign racers to compete at the Ancol circuit, North Jakarta. This circuit underwent several renovations in the process of construction.
In October 1969, the Jaya Antjol Race I event was held where at that time the condition of the circuit was just an ordinary residential road with broken bends. The width of this circuit is only with a track length of . Then in 1970, Jaya Antjol Race II was held in October. In this event, the length of the circuit was changed to meters and the number of corners was increased to 12 corners.
In 1971, the Ancol circuit was completely renovated at a cost of around 400 million rupiah (nominal value). The funds were used for hotmix asphalting and construction of the paddock, pit and tower. The Ancol circuit paddock consisted of 3 rooms, each measuring 150 m x 12 m, 75 m x 12 m and 51 m x 5 m. This paddock could accommodate about 100 cars or 150 racing motorbikes including the equipment. The pit could accommodate 30 racing cars or 50 racing motorbikes, with enough room for 2 pit crews for each racer. In addition, there was also a control tower consisting of 3 floors where the top floor was used for the score board and TV as well as where journalists and police were stationed. The first floor of this tower building was used as a race control room, doctors, and flags. The second floor of the building itself was used as a time checking room and the office of the competition committee.
The layout of this circuit was more or less the same as an urban circuit with a dominant straight line combined with broken corners. It was just that the development in Jakarta in the '70s was not as fast as it is now. Just imagine a village area or housing that had not been built so that it was only empty land with weeds and a few trees given asphalt roads and used for racing. The circuit was so simple that even the racers' paddock is under a tree. In terms of specifications, this circuit after undergoing renovations in 1971 turned into an L shape like the Salzburgring and Lakeside Circuit in its day.
The length of the track was with a straight line that passed through the Duta Toradja restaurant along . The width of the road was also increased to and from the previously planned minimum of and a maximum of after considering security aspects. Many international scale events that were presented at this circuit, such as the Ancol Grand Prix, Ancol 7-hour endurance. PT. Astra, with Tom's Japan, developed the Toyota Starlet KP47 and Toyota Corolla KE30 specifically for this circuit specification.
In 1976, the first Indonesian Grand Prix was held at the Ancol circuit.
The Jaya Ancol Circuit was originally managed by BPP Ancol, and was once held by Herman Sarens Soediro, while Tinton Soeprapto assumed its management in 1983. Governor Soeprapto sent an order to the Chairman of the Indonesian Motor Association (IMI), which at that time was held by Hutomo Mandala Putra.
The area of the Ancol circuit which was originally gradually become smaller, leaving a land area of about . In addition to noise and pollution complaints from the residents of the adjacent elite housings, many facilities in the arena itself were damaged. The Jaya Ancol Circuit was closed in 1992, replaced by the Sentul Circuit in Bogor, which is to the south from Jakarta.
The remains of the circuit is now used for access road for the Jaya Ancol theme park, while the southern loop is now occupied by a highway interchange. The new Jakarta International e-Prix Circuit is located right adjacent to the former site of the north loop.
Winners of the Ancol Formula Atlantic Indonesian Grand Prix :