The Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit is located within the Mandalika Special Economic Zone, a 120-hectare resort development in Central Lombok Regency. The circuit measures 4.301 km in length and features 17 corners. Designed as a purpose-built track with wide run-off areas, it is marketed as a street circuit concept — sections of the circuit road are intended to remain accessible to resort traffic when not in use for racing, though this public access had not been fully implemented as of early 2023. The surface uses Stone Mastic Asphalt chosen to enhance tyre grip. The circuit's capacity includes 50,000 grandstand seats and a total admission footprint for roughly 195,700 spectators. Its pit building stretches 350 metres and incorporates 50 garages along with a medical centre equipped with three helipads.
Hermann Tilke was not the designer; the circuit layout was initially sketched by Mark Hughes of Mrk1 Consulting in January 2017, with a memorandum of understanding between ITDC and Roadgrip Motorsports signed the same month. Construction eventually began after several years of planning, with Indonesian President Joko Widodo inaugurating the circuit on 12 November 2021.
The construction of the Mandalika circuit attracted international attention for reasons beyond sport. The United Nations Human Rights Council issued a report in April 2019 chronicling allegations that local ethnic Sasak people had been dispossessed of their homes and land in connection with the development. Indonesia's government disputed the characterisation as a "false and hyperbolic narrative," while promising transparency and compensation dialogue. Land disputes over portions of the circuit — including a parcel of 3.5 hectares covering the ninth corner — remained unresolved even into early 2022.
Track quality issues also dogged the venue's early history. During the 2022 MotoGP pre-season test in February, riders including Aleix Espargaro, Andrea Dovizioso, Alex Rins, and Francesco Bagnaia complained of dust and gravel contaminating the racing surface. Investigation revealed that chipped and crushed asphalt aggregate had not been prepared to proper specification. The circuit was subsequently repaved between turn 17 and turn 5, a process completed nine days before the inaugural Grand Prix in March 2022. Despite repaving, new holes appeared in the surface during the race weekend, shortening both the Moto2 and MotoGP races. The MotoGP race itself was delayed by heavy rain.
Pertamina, the Indonesian state oil company, paid approximately US$7 million for naming rights through the end of 2022, giving the circuit its commercial title.
Indonesia had previously held World Championship motorcycle racing at Sentul Circuit in 1996 and 1997 under the Marlboro Indonesian Grand Prix name. The gap of more than two decades ended when the return was announced in February 2019, initially targeting 2021 before COVID-19 postponed the debut to 2022.
The Superbike World Championship served as a shakedown event in November 2021, although riders noted a dirty track surface following the opening rounds. The first MotoGP weekend in March 2022 became the second round of that championship season and marked Indonesia's return to the global motorsport stage. The event was subsequently retained as a permanent fixture on the calendar, moving from March to October in subsequent years.
Following the problematic 2022 debut season, the circuit received FIM Grade A homologation in 2022, having initially been graded FIM Grade B at the time of the 2021 WorldSBK event. The upgrade cleared it for continued MotoGP rounds.
Alongside MotoGP, the Mandalika circuit has hosted rounds of the Superbike World Championship (2021–2023), Supersport World Championship (2021–2023), and the Asia Talent Cup. The circuit also hosts the Pertamina 6 Hours Endurance, the Mandalika Racing Series, the Asia Road Racing Championship, and the GT World Challenge Asia, though the GT event was cancelled in 2022 because the circuit had not yet been homologated as an FIA car racing circuit. Plans for FIA homologation remained underway. A fatality occurred at the circuit in 2023 when Haruki Noguchi died during an Asia Road Racing Championship round.