PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is set to host the Autobacs Super GT championships for the first time in over a decade at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit next year.
Malaysia will host the third round of the famed GT series on June 27-28 while the rest of the rounds will be held in Japan.
Haro Sports and Entertainment, the Malaysian rights holder for the event, have signed an agreement with the GT Association (GTA) which will see Sepang hosting the race for the next three years (2025-2027).
With the exception of a few years when the race was cancelled due to the SARS epidemic, Malaysia had previously hosted a round of the series annually between 2000 to 2013.
The series was known as the All-Japan Grand Touring Championship in its earlier years.
Haro Sports and Entertainment managing partner Fahrizal Hasan said they are expecting to attract roughly 80,000 fans during the event.
"Malaysia has an advantage as it is the only country to host the race outside of Japan," said Fahrizal after the agreement signing ceremony with GTA in Putrajaya today.
"We are hoping to attract 80,000 fans over the two days. We are expecting about 30 to 35 per cent of those fans to be foreigners.
"We anticipate a tourism receipt of roughly US$45 million (RM194 million) from the event which will create a spillover effect for the local economy."
Fahrizal added that he is hoping to get a Malaysian to compete in the Sepang round as a wildcard driver.
"We are looking at pairing a Malaysian driver with an Indonesian driver as each car is shared by two drivers. This is to boost local interest in the race," said Fahrizal.
The race was originally scheduled to make a comeback to Sepang in 2020 but was forced to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister, Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan witnessed the signing ceremony between Fahrizal and GTA president Masaaki Bandoh, which was held at the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture building in Putrajaya today.