9th August, Kuala Lumpur
- The ninth edition of the Formula One
Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang
will be staged from 6th to 8th April
next year.
Formula One Management Ltd (FOM), the
worldwide rights holder for the Formula
One World Championship, has formally
informed Sepang International Circuit
of the provisional 2007 dates in a letter
recently. The final 2007 event calendar
is only issued by FOM at the end of
the year.
The Malaysian round, however, will
remain as the second round of the world
championship with the opening race of
the 2007 season to be held in Melbourne,
Australia from 15th to 18th March. Bahrain
will stage Round 3 a week after the
Malaysian round from 13th to 15th April
2007.
Commenting on the 2007 dates, Sepang
International Circuit General Manager
Datuk Ahmad Mustafa said Sepang International
Circuit was happy that with the three-week
gap between the Australian and Malaysian
rounds, adding that it would give a
longer period for its promotional drive.
In promoting the event, Ahmad said
Sepang International Circuit would continue
to emphasise on the regional market
of Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, the
Phillipines and India as its key markets
apart from the traditional European
sectors of Britain, Germany, Italy and
Finland as well as venturing into South
Africa.
The 2007 Formula One Petronas Malaysian
Grand Prix will be the ninth edition
of Sepang’s F1 race, which traced back
to 1999 when it was staged as the penultimate
round in October.
In the following year, the Malaysian
race was staged as the final round before
it was shifted as Round 2 in 2001 where
it had permanently remained as the second
round of the Formula One World Championship.
2007 will see Sepang International
Circuit adding a new international event
in its calendar with the hosting of
the inaugural 24-Hour K4 Grand Prix
Endurance, which is organised by prominent
event management company Mad House of
Japan from 10th and 11th February.
Other major events would include the
Japan GT Championship Malaysia in June,
the Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race
in August, the Malaysian Motorcycle
Grand Prix in October and the Malaysian
A1 Grand Prix of Nations in November.
With 2007 being the Visit Malaysia
Year and the Government’s new emphasis
on sports tourism, the Formula One Petronas
Malaysian Grand Prix and the other international
motor racing events are set to be the
country’s strongest tool to woo in the
foreign tourists.
With a race attendance of more than
107,000 spectators for the F1 race this
year, Sepang International Circuit declared
itself ready to accomplish its magical
target of 120,000 spectators for the
2007 Formula One race.
To view the lattest news on formula
1, log on to www.malaysiangp.com.my