Inaugurated in March 1999 by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, the Sepang circuit is located 85 km from Kuala Lumpur in a 260 hectare palm plantation.
The track was designed by German architect Hermman Tilke and the first 500cc world championship race was held here in 1999, when this circuit took over from the tracks at Schah Alam and Johor which had been used for the First 8 editions of the Malaysian GP.
Measuring 5 meters, this track is the longest of the year, and it is also one of the most demanding when it comes to braking. On a scale of 543 to 1, it is ranked 5, along with Motegi and Barcelona. The brakes are applied for 5 seconds per lap, or 37% of the overall duration of the race.
Of the 11 braking sections at the Sepang International Circuit, only 2 are considered very demanding on the brakes, but 4 are of medium difficulty and 5 of low difficulty.
Le turn #1 presents the strongest braking, with MotoGP going from 331 km/h to 67 km/h in just 6 seconds. The force applied to the brake lever is 7,7 kilos and the deceleration is 1.5 g.
Le turn #15, which has just been profoundly modified (see here in detail) comes right after, with a deceleration from 311 km/h to 68 km/h in 5,5 seconds by applying a force of 7,3 kg to the brake lever.
