FIM ORDERS REPAIR WORKS ON SEPANG TRACK FOR MOTOGP

Thursday, August 02, 2007 - The International Motorcycling Federation (FIM), which inspected the Sepang Circuit today for the upcoming Polini Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix 2007 in October, had instructed SIC to conduct repair works for the event especially on the bumpy turns and braking zones.

FIM Safety Officer and official track inspector Claude Danis said that he would be coming back to inspect the circuit immediately after the 12-hour Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race this month and another round of inspection at the end of September.   

“I cannot say that I am happy or unhappy with the track. But, the surface of the track now is not so good and there are bumps in the braking zones and at some of the turns and they needed to be repaired for the MotoGP race,” said Danis, who was joined at the two-hour long inspection with the riders’ representative Franco Uncini.

They were also joined by representatives from the AAM and SIC as well as the contractors for the track re-surfacing exercise, which was completed in June for the Super GT International Series Malaysia.

After taking a two-lap drive around the 5.5403-km track, the delegation stopped at several locations including Turn 1, 3, 6, 7, 8 and at the exit of Turn 13 before going to a closed-door discussion on what needed to be done for the MotoGP race.

Slotted as the penultimate round of the championship, the Polini Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix 2007 would be held at Sepang Circuit from October 19 to 21 with the concluding round in Valencia two weeks later. 

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Danis said he had asked for repair works to smoothen the bumps, which had appeared in most of the braking areas and the turns as well as in the leveling for some of the kerbs run-off areas.

He, however, was not surprised with the bumpy conditions of the circuit; saying that the problems of bumps and unleveled track were normal after racing tracks undergo a resurfacing exercise.

“I will be back here in Sepang to check the surface of the track after the endurance race and then one more time at the end of September on the repair works,” said Danis, adding that he had also asked the circuit to build a stretch of kerb inside Turn 14 where Dani Pedrosa crashed at last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

SIC Technical and Circuit Management Manager, Mohd Azhar Abdul Rahman said that the circuit had already decided on the repairs even before today’s inspection, adding that they already decided for the track to be closed between August 6 to 17.  

“We hope to complete all these repair works during that period,” he said, adding that all the other events including the FIM Asian Grand Prix race this weekend would proceed as scheduled.