KUALA LUMPUR – More than 50% of the Malaysian MotoGP tickets have been sold but organisers admit that it would still be a challenge to meet its 170,000 spectators target.
The Malaysian Moto GP is expected to set the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) tracks on fire next weekend after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
SIC chief executive officer Azhan Shafriman Hanif said that ticket sales increased after Malaysian rider Syarifuddin Azman, popularly known as Damok, was announced as a wildcard entry in the Moto3 category with Vision Track Racing Team.
“Ticket sales were slow initially but after the announcement of Damok’s participation in the Moto3 category, we saw the sales grow. Grandstand tickets are sold out.
Azhan, however, said that it may be a challenge to reach the target attendance of 170,000, which was the number for the last MotoGP race at SIC in 2019 due to some factors.
“It is a long weekend next week because of Deepavali celebrations.
“We are also seeing a drop in the number of international visitors who are visiting Malaysia, this could be because of the expensive flight tickets.
“Historically, the split of race attendance has always been around 80% local spectators and 20% international visitors,” he said during a press conference today.
Azhan added that the absence of MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi on the grid this year could well be another factor for the ticket sales’ slow rise.
“Compared to 2019, there is a drop in the ticket sale numbers, of course, Rossi was a huge name in MotoGP and the world of motorsports.
“It will take time for us to fill up the gap that Rossi retired from the championship, but we have Malaysian riders to look forward to such as Damok in Moto3 and three riders from Petronas in Moto2,” he said.
Petronas recently announced that Khairul Idham Pawi, better known as Super Kip, Kasma Daniel Kasmayuddin, and Azroy Hakeem Anuar was given the wildcard for the Moto2 race.
Meanwhile, Azhan said the circuit will step up its security measures to prevent unwanted incidents to occur such as that during the 2019 season to the Angel Nieto Team, who lost several replacement parts such as front tyres, a complete set of shock absorbers and brakes for Moto2 and Moto3 bikes.
“This type of case is not supposed to happen at any racetrack, including SIC.
“We have installed 65 CCTV cameras around the paddock and around the put area,” he added.
Previously, Azhan said the 25% entertainment tax imposed by the Selangor state government and rising costs led to rising ticket prices. – The Vibes, October 14, 2022.
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