Sepang Circuit To Increase Track Rental By Mid-2023 Citing Raising Cost

In an interview with the New Straits Times, Sepang International Circuit (SIC) chief executive officer Azhan Shafriman Hanif revealed that SIC’s track rental rates are to be raised soon as operations and maintenance costs have been on the rise resulting in thinning profit margins.

Azhan further added that these rate hikes would most likely happen by mid 2023 as SIC has maintained its rental rates for about 10 years so far. The current per-day rental rates are RM55,000 for weekdays and RM65,000 for weekends.

He further explained that overall maintenance costs have risen by two to three fold and this rate hike is the only way for SIC to continue operating. The maintenance required to upkeep the facility heavy equipment logistics, track and facility cleaning plus general landscaping.

Azhan expressed SIC’s appreciation to all their existing customers who have over the years shown continuous support and hopes they would understand the current economic situation which has seen an overall rise in cost of living.

On a brighter note, Azhan also revealed that SIC in general is almost fully booked for weekend track sessions this year with only weekday slots still available. He also hopes the relaxation of the prolonged Covid-19 protocol would help SIC to be a choiced event venue.

He however still anticipates a rough 2023 coming out from the pandemic but at least all planning and promotion can be done easily this year with less foreigner entry restrictions.

The 2022 Malaysian GP saw an attendance number of 88,615 down from 103,850 in 2019 which could be due to the fear of mass gathering at that time coming out of the lockdown where there was no event in 2020-2021. 2023 Malaysian GP’s tickets are now already available with early bird promotion till April.