Despite the heavy rainfall over the weekend, the 2016 Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix drew a record number of fans for the three-day race event at Sepang International Circuit (SIC). Surpassing last year’s record of 150,563 spectators, this year’s edition of the MotoGP had 161,533 fans in attendance.
With the signing of a new contract with Dorna, the organising body for MotoGP, SIC has the rights to host the world championship event till 2021. In addition, oil company Shell has agreed to continue as main race sponsor up to 2020. For other races, SIC this year lost the World Superbike championship race, while the rights to Formula One are still undecided.
“We are looking forward to doing much more to grow interest in two-wheel motorsports in Malaysia, as well as develop local talent. We’ve also received positive feedback on the new activities this year such as Watch The Race From The Sky and the Rockaway Malaysia MotoGP Weekend, thus we are exploring more options for the coming years,” said Datuk Razlan Razali, chief executive officer of SIC.
Fan turnout was much larger this year, as evidenced by the atmosphere on Friday and Saturday, during practice and qualifying. The mall area, much enlarged for 2016, also saw motorcycle distributors and bike accessory vendors turning out in full force, with several vendors reporting encouraging sales.
On the racing front, Khairul Idham Pawi – a.k.a. SuperKIP – came in eighth in the Moto3 race, while Adam Norrodin did not finish due to a first lap crash. Hafiq Azmi, given a wildcard to ride with Peugeot MC Saxoprint, finished 11th.
In the Moto2 class, Hafizh Syahrin of Petronas Raceline Malaysia claimed fifth place while Ramdan Rosli of Petronas AHM Malaysia, another wildcard entrant, came in 12th. Winner of the race, Johann Zarco of Ajo Motorsport, also clinched his second Moto2 championship crown.
At the top-flight, Andrea Dovizioso of Ducati came in first, beating Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo of Movistar Yamaha, for second and third, respectively. Dovizioso is the ninth winner of a MotoGP this season, which has seen wins from all the major manufacturers.
These include Cal Crutchlow of Great Britain; Marc Marquez, Dani Pedrosa, Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo, all Spanish; Andrea Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi of Italy; and Australian Jack Miller. In the MotoGP championship standings, Marquez has a mathematically insurmountable 278 points, making him world champion going into the last race of 2016 in Valencia, Spain.
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Local riders contribute to the increasing crowd. I dont mind we losing spot on F1 since its become more boring but please do your best SIC to keep the Motogp in Malaysia.
If business is doing well, we might sell of the franchise to China. that is Malaysia style.
Contract extended another 5 years
Congrats SIC…agree F1 is so boring and predictable
2X F1. But we shud only review whether continue or not, after Mesidis domination ends.
yeah motor more exciting, ticket cheaper. scrap the F1
Just for comparison, how many was attendance to the F1 GP?
80k+ for 3 days, Sunday around 40k+
Why gp more ppl attend because mostly ppl still able to buy super bike compare to buy super car. That the point of observation.
F1 has gone downhill in the past 5 years. The FIA’s new rules aren’t helping either. Plus, MotoGP & WSBK have motorcycle groups like BMW Motorrad and Ducati Desmo owners club attending the event. You don’t really see Mercedes or Honda owners convoi together to F1
no one can buy an F1 plane/car wtf it is…its not even a car, totally irrelevant for normal ppl…at least this motogp bikes looks like real bikes u can buy!!
Average main grandstand ticket for F1 is more than Rm800 (up to rm5000) while for motogp is less than rm250 for main grandstand with free seating. That’s why it’s a sold-out event because it is a lot cheaper. Parking for F1 rm200 (nearest to main entrance), motogp only rm50 max.
please convey to the organizer that on race day, traffic management before and after race is equally as important.
i’ve experienced 2 hours jam going to the track and another 2 hours jam going back to Shah Alam…that not good for the race organizer reputation i suppose..
MotoGP, got money but cannot buy the bike. WSbike, got money then can buy the bike. But bolehland cannot get rights to race. So, big bikes will race on the hiway if got chance.
duh, you don’t understand the difference between motogp and WSBK huh..pity you
They should target club bikers. Brings more vendors. Not only from msia but club & vendor from singapore & thailand.
I stayed jb. ..i promise my 7 years old son take him to watch gp in sepang , but failed cos i i hv to work on sunday. I want to see rossi race,…next year sure i come.