KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 — The Sepang International Circuit (SIC) will look into more untapped areas to diversify its income to survive the Covid-19 pandemic, said its chief executive officer Azhan Shafriman Hanif.

With the local motorsports being among industries hardest hit by the pandemic, Azhan Shafriman said opening up the track for safe cycling and running events will be among the initiatives.

"About 80-90 per cent of our business is coming through track rental and the other part is international events. When I came in, I saw a lot of business we have not tapped in, for example now that cycling is big, why don’t we use the circuit for everyone to use?

"More events at SIC and have proper SOPs (standard operating procedures) so everyone can cycle safe here. I would like to open SIC to more people, called merakyatkan SIC...Not just to watch race, but also for other activities,” he said during the Steering and Marshalling the Motorsports Industry into 2021 webinar organised by Richard Wee Chambers today.

Azhan Shafriman said he is seeing good opportunity to restart and reset SIC as a brand in these challenging times and will be ready to seize the opportunities when the market swings to SIC’s direction in the new normal.

As securing sponsorship is predicted to be hard in 2021, he said, the corporate sector still can support the motorsports sector through in-kind sponsorships instead of contributing through funds.

Meanwhile, Motorsports Association of Malaysia (MAM) secretary-general Muizz Azli said the association’s aim in 2021 is to get local and international races in the country going, although it depends on the situation of the Covid-19 outbreak.

"The rule is simple, for a racer to get paid by the team or for a team to get paid by a sponsor, they must start the engine (race). For now, our aim is to help the circuit and organisers to organise the events.

"I have received some proposals from organisers to do events, seeking support for events, track owners, facilities on how we can homologise…When all is ready, it is a matter of implementing,” he said. — Bernama