Two Races in Malaysia soon?

Before too long MotoGP will be putting extra emphasis on being the world title.

At the moment over half of the rounds are European based, 6 in Spain and Italy alone, and it’s only a matter of time before Dorna decide to expand to even further corners of the world.

With a third American round in place for 2013, and Argentina been rescheduled for 2014 it appears Dorna are noticing the important countries with attendances and getting rid of tracks like Estoril where attendance is poor.

India has been dubbed to be hosting Grand Prix racing sooner rather than later, and will host World Superbike’s in 2013.

Recently MCN ran a story regarding the possibility of an extra round in Sepang due to increased attendance figures, and lack of alternatives.

South East Asia is a huge market for companies, especially those selling scooters  and in 2011 over 8.04 million motorcycles were sold in Indonesia alone, it can only be a matter of time before factories push for another round.

Along with sales figures increasing attendance figures in Malaysia have been on the rise. 77,000 fans attended the 2012 Malaysian MotoGP, an increase of over 10,000 from 2011.

Sepang also hosted more fans than some traditional European tracks such as Silverstone, Mugello and Valencia in 2012.

One of the reasons as to the increased attendance figures is the popularity of the home riders. Zulfahmi Khairuddin has established himself as a Moto3 front runner and took the pole, and claimed a podium at this seasons Malaysia Grand Prix.

Alongside Khairuddin, next season we will see two more Malaysian’s in the Moto2 category.

Speaking with MCN Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis said “Interest in MotoGP in South East Asia has really taken off and it is vitally important for the sport and the factories to be as visible as possible in that region.”

He continued “The attendance at Sepang last month was a perfect illustration of how popular MotoGP has become in South East Asia, and I think a second race there would be welcomed by all concerned until existing tracks like Sentul can be upgraded, or new tracks become available for MotoGP to race on in that part of the world.”

The problem at the moment is the lack of alternative tracks other than the Sepang International Circuit on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

It is yet to be finalized although don’t be surprised if a second round in Malaysia gets announced in the not to distant future.