Thursday August 2, 2007
FIM instructs repair works on Sepang F1 circuit
SEPANG: The International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) has instructed the Sepang International Circuit (SIC), the caretakers of the Sepang F1 Circuit to conduct repair works on bumpy turns and braking zones to prepare the circuit for the MotoGP in October.
The Sepang Circuit will host the penultimate round of the MotoGP from Oct 19-21.
FIM Safety Officer and official track inspector Claude Danis who inspected the track today said that he would be coming back to inspect the circuit immediately after the 12-hour Merdeka Millennium Endurance (MME) Race this month and for 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 need to be repaired for the MotoGP race," said Danis, who was joined at the two-hour long inspection by the riders’ representative, Franco Uncini.
Accompanying them were representatives from the AAM and SIC as well as the contractors of the track re-surfacing exercise, which was completed in June for the Super GT International Series Malaysia.
Danis said he was not surprised with the bumpy conditions of the circuit as the problems of bumps and an unlevelled track were normal after racing tracks underwent a resurfacing exercise.
Danis added that he had also asked the circuit to build a stretch of kerb inside Turn 14 where Dani Pedrosa of Spain crashed at last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix.
SIC Technical and Circuit Management Manager Mohd Azhar Abdul Rahman said that the management team had already decided on the repairs before yesterday's inspection, adding that they had decided the track would be closed between Aug 6 and 17 for repair works. "We hope to complete all these repair works during that period," said Mohd Azhar.
The FIM Asian Grand Prix race this weekend and the MME on Aug 25 will proceed as scheduled.
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