The Sepang circuit, home to this weekend's Malaysian Moto GP, the penultimate round of the 2017 championship season, is located about 50 km south of Kuala Lumpur and is one of the most modern and spectacular tracks in the world. It was built as part of a vast complex that also includes a hotel, shopping centre, golf course and other sports facilities.
It was built in just 14 months, held its first GP in 1999 and set the standard for race circuits worldwide. With four slow corners following two long straights and ten medium to high-speed corners, the wide track is particularly favourable to overtaking and plenty of throttle. One of the longest laps in MotoGP is made all the more gruelling for riders by intense heat and humidity.
Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso got off to a great start on day one, the Italian rider setting the quickest time in both the dry morning session and the afternoon run, which was held in the rain.
โToday was a very positive day because we were quickest both this morning in the dry and in the afternoon in the wet, and it was very important to start in this way at Sepang,โ he said โWe know that there's still a lot of work to do, especially in the dry, and we hope to have some sessions with the track in a good condition tomorrow, so that we can prepare the best settings for the race."
"In any case it was good that we confirmed out pace in the wet and today went even better than last year, so I'm very satisfied: my Desmosedici goes really well in the wet, we've got excellent grip and it was quite easy for me to go quick.โ
