Petronas hooks up with SIC to develop Asian talents

Petronas and Sepang International Circuit (SIC) will join forces to develop Malaysian and Asian talents to compete in the MotoGP world championships.

The Petronas Sprinta Racing team will be formed to nurture talents rising from the Malaysian Cub Prix, Asia Road Racing Championship and Asia Talent Cup to pursue their racing careers in the Moto2 and Moto3 championships.

SIC will concentrate their efforts on fully managing the team and riders while Petronas will look to develop the motorcycle lubricant brand Petronas Sprinta in focus markets such as Malaysia, China, India and Vietnam.

Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah will be the sole Moto2 rider in the Petronas Sprinta Racing outfit next year while their Moto3 riders are Adam Norrodin and Japanese Ayumu Sasaki.

Petronas vice-president for marketing Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Tahir said that the sponsorship for the world championships is for three years and subject to further review.

“Petronas is delighted to announce this new Moto2 and Moto3 project with SIC. We believe this partnership is a natural progression for our long-term commitment in developing talents as it provides a sustainable platform for riders to move up from local to international championships through SIC, who have the resources and experience in managing a race team. Our goal is to increase our global visibility through MotoGP,” he said.

SIC chairman Tan Sri Azman Yahya said it was high time that both companies came together to develop talents for motorsports.

“SIC will play the vital role of managing and overseeing operations of both teams in Moto2 and Moto3 world championships.

“We hope this partnership will open doors to future motorsports talents yearning to progress in world championship racing,” said Azman.