Sentul, Racing Circuit

Sentul International Circuit is Indonesia's principal permanent motor racing facility, located at Sentul City in Babakan Madang, Bogor Regency, West Java, near the Jagorawi toll road linking Jakarta and Bogor at the foot of the Jonggol hills. It was conceived around 1990 under the patronage of Hutomo Mandala Putra, a motorsport enthusiast and son of President Suharto, as a modern replacement for the cramped Ancol street circuit in Jakarta. Construction began in January 1992 and the 50,000-capacity venue opened in August 1993, its inaugural meeting being the Indonesian Grand Prix for Formula Holden single-seaters. Although intended to showcase Indonesia to Formula One, concerns over river intrusion forced a shortened final design that left the circuit too tight and short for grand prix cars, and a planned 1996 Pacific Grand Prix was cancelled. The track found its greatest success on two wheels, hosting the Superbike World Championship from 1994 to 1997 and the 500cc motorcycle Grand Prix in 1996 and 1997, the latter seeing future stars including a young Valentino Rossi take 125cc victory. The clockwise layout is smooth and broad with generous run-off, a roughly 900-metre main straight feeding a tight Turn 1 and a fast, sweeping Turn 2 complex. After the 1997 Asian financial crisis curtailed international racing, the circuit hosted occasional A1 Grand Prix and GP2 Asia events but largely fell back on national-level meetings and the Asia Road Racing Championship. In December 2021 the Governor of West Java announced a redesign and revitalisation, with the venue to be rebranded as the West Java Sentul International Circuit in a bid to restore its former prominence.

Operated by: PT Sarana Sirkuitindo Utama