This will be the 31 st Malaysian Grand Prix, which has been held every year since the first visit in 1991 except in 2020 and 2021 when the Malaysian GPs were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Malaysian GP has taken place at three different circuits: Shah Alam, Johor and Sepang. The first, held Shah Alam in 1991, saw a debut win in the premier class for John Kocinski riding a Yamaha.
Italian riders dominated the smaller classes with Luca Cadalora (Honda) winning the 250cc race and Loris Capirossi (Honda) in 125cc.The Shah Alam circuit hosted the Malaysian Grand Prix for a total of seven years before the competition moved to Johor for a single year in 1998. The first Malaysian GP to be held at Sepang was in 1999 and this year will be the 23 rd time that Sepang has hosted the event.
Malaysia is one of eight different Asian countries to host a Grand Prix event (all solo classes) along with Indonesia, Turkey, Japan, Thailand, China, Qatar, and India. Petronas Sepang International Circuit is one of the 13 different circuits that have been used for GP racing in Asia so far: Motegi (69 GP races), Sepang (65), Lusail (59), Suzuka (56), Shah Alam (21), Shanghai (12), Buriram (12), Istanbul Park (9), Fisco/Fuji (8), Sentul (6), Mandalika (6), Johor (3), and Buddh (3).
Most successful riders at Sepang:
Valentino Rossi 6 (5 x MotoGP™, 1 x 500cc)
Dani Pedrosa 5 (3 x MotoGP™, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 125cc)
Casey Stoner 4 (2 x MotoGP™, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 125cc)
Marc Marquez 3 (2 x MotoGP™, 1 x 125cc)
Maverick Viñales 3 (1 x MotoGP™, 1 x Moto2™, 1 x 125cc)
Races at Sepang (65):
18 MotoGP™, 3 500cc, 11 Moto2™, 11 250cc, 9 Moto3™, 13 125cc
Factories at Sepang: best results
Most wins: Honda 7 – Yamaha 6 – Ducati 6 – Suzuki 2
Honda: In the MotoGP era, Honda have had six wins at Sepang, including four in a row from 2012 to 2015, with Dani Pedrosa (2012, 2013 and 2015) and Marc Marquez (2014). The most recent Honda win at the track was Marc Marquez in 2018 after qualifying on pole, although he got a grid penalty and started from seventh.
Yamaha: Yamaha have had six MotoGP™ wins here, four with Valentino Rossi (2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010), one with Max Biaggi (2002) and one with Maverick Viñales (2019).
Ducati: Ducati have had six MotoGP™ wins with four different riders here: Loris Capirossi (2005), Casey Stoner (2007 and 2009), Andrea Dovizioso (2016 and 2017) and Francesco Bagnaia (2022).
Aprilia: Aprilia’s best MotoGP™ result at Sepang is P7 with Alvaro Bautista in 2016. In 2022, Aleix Espargaro was the top Aprilia in 10th.