SIC targets record crowd for the 25th Malaysian Motorcycle GP

Malaysian Moto3 rider Zulfahmi Khairuddin posing on a bike during the launch of the 25th edition of the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

SEPANG: The Sepang International Circuit (SIC) is confident of surpassing the all-time high attendance of 120,000 when they host the 25th edition of the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix from Oct 23-25.

This year’s race will be the penultimate round of the 18-leg World Championship and SIC chief executive officer Datuk Razlan Razali believes fans are set to turn up in droves to watch the competition.

“This is a special year for the Malaysia GP as it marks the 25th anniversary of the event. The GP started at the Batu Tiga Circuit in Shah Alam in 1991. It was then moved to Sepang from 1999 until now.

“It is now the longest-running motorsports event in Malaysia and it continues to excite the fans.

“There were more than 120,000 fans for the last three years. But this time we’re hoping to attract 130,000 fans. We have also lined up some exciting activities off the track for the fans to mark the race’s silver anniversary.

“We have sold 40% more tickets compared to the same time last year. We also managed to sell 8,000 ticket packages in Indonesia. At the rate things are going, I believe all the grandstand tickets will be sold out come October,” said Razlan.

Razlan added that having three Malaysians – Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah and Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman in Moto2 and Zulfahmi Khairuddin in Moto3 – for the first time in the championship would also help to attract the local motorcycling enthusiasts.

“Eighty per cent of our ticket sales last year came from the locals. With three of our riders in the field, we’re expecting a bumper crowd,” said Razlan.