Sepang mulls full or partial resurfacing following MotoGP complaints

SEPANG: Sepang International Circuit (SIC) will be temporarily closing down the track to conduct resurfacing works following complaints from MotoGP riders during the Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia which concluded yesterday.

SIC chief executive officer Azhan Shafriman Hanif, however, said they have yet to decide whether the track will be fully or partially resurfaced.

"Whether it will be a full resurface or partial resurface will depend on the (post-GP) report we will receive from MotoGP and the FIM," said Shafriman yesterday.

"Regardless, we will be focusing on the spots that have been reported to us by the riders.

"We have already resurfaced the track from turn seven to turn 12 (in recent years)."

Remedial works will likely be done before the MotoGP shakedown (Jan 29-30) and official pre-season test (Jan 31-Feb 1) is held here next year.

Shafriman added that SIC previously had plans to fully resurface the track earlier this year but was disrupted by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

"The war in the Middle East has inflated prices of material, such as bitumen and relevant additives, as well as logistics," he said.

"So we resorted to another method, which is milling the track."

Milling shaves a layer off the track to remove uneven or damaged sections.

The last time Sepang was fully resurfaced was in early 2016.