KUALA LUMPUR: The Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia, which concluded yesterday, achieved a new three-day attendance record thanks to the introduction of the new MotoGP sprint race.
A total of 182,912 fans attended the event over the three days with 21,364 turning up on Friday, 70,911 on Saturday and 90,637 yesterday.
This is a big increase from the 163,567 that came over the weekend last year.
The bigger jump in attendance came on Saturday, which was the day the new sprint race was held.
By comparison, only 53,937 fans turned up on Saturday while 88,625 attended on Sunday last year.
The previous three-day record of 170,778 was achieved during the 2019 Malaysia GP. The all-time record for Sunday attendance of 103,850 from that year still stands.
Dorna, the MotoGP commercial rights holder and organisers of the world championships, introduced the sprint race this season to boost the popularity of the series, which has been in decline in recent seasons.
The sprint race is half the duration and offers roughly half the points of the Sunday main race.
Sepang International Circuit chief executive officer Azhan Shafriman Hanif said he was grateful for the turnout this year.
"We had expected attendance this year to be better than last year or at least be similar," said Shafriman yesterday.
"We are grateful to achieve the 182,000 mark as announced by Dorna.
"I am thankful to all those who bought tickets and came as well as all those who helped make the event a success."
Shafriman added that Sepang International Circuit would continue to work on improving the event as well as the Sepang track based on feedback they have received.
Ducati Lenovo rider Enea Bastianini won the main race this year, while the sprint race was won by Gresini Racing's Alex Marquez.