Motorsport: PETRONAS and SEPANG INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT Enter Into A Partnership To Further Advance Two-Wheeled Motorsport

PETRONAS and the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) have joined forces by entering into a partnership that will focus on the development of talented people and grooming them to compete at the forefront of motorcycle racing events globally. The three year partnership will now proceed with both the PETRONAS Talent Development Programme (TDP) and the SIC Talent Development Programme (SICTD) which will inculcate future talents that should arise out of grassroot racing like the Malaysian Cub Prix, Asia Road Racing Championship and Asia Talent Cup. 

These new talents will get is proper help and assistance so that they will be able to pursue an even bigger racing career in the Moto2 and Moto3 Championships. Of course this is with the ultimate goal of putting more Malaysian talents into the MotoGP eventually. What all of these will eventually do is to ensure the sustainability of local and Asian grown talents in the two wheeled racing scene.

With this partnership, SIC will concentrate its efforts on managing the team and riders whilst PETRONAS through its sponsorship will do its part on expanding its brand visibility in MotoGP (again, the ultimate goal is for brand awareness and what better way to bring it on with bringing up new talents riding a PETRONAS branded bike). All of this allows the PETRONAS brand to be seen throughout its main markets like Malaysia, India, China and Vietnam. Yes, PETRONAS is actually gaining some headway in countries other than Malaysia especially in terms of OEM supply from what I was told.

Anyway, the actual detail of this (initial) three year arrangement is that SIC will manage the day to day operations of the racing team as well as the performance of the team riders, which includes Hafizh Syahrin, who will be the team's sole contender in the 2018 Moto2 series in the World Motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP series). Aside from Hafizh, Moto3 riders, Adam Norrodin and Ayum Sasaki who are already under SIC's wings will be assisted and developed even further. Overall, the SIC team will be helmed by former Grand Prix racer, the very experienced Johan Stigefelt.

This is a win-win situation for many. PETRONAS gets more brand visibility, SIC gets the needed support from PETRONAS and we get to see more Asian and mainly local Malaysian talent being groomed professionally with proper support. One of the main reason for the parties to push for the development of two wheeled racing here in Malaysia is the simple fact that MotoGP racing has been super popular in recent years (compared to F1) with record ticket sales and attendance. As such it actually makes good business sense to push for this even more.