Sentul International Circuit (section) was designed to meet the Formula One motor racing standard and was the first serious attempt outside Japan to meet such a standard in Asia. The vision came to
Indonesia around 1990 when
Hutomo Mandala Putra, motor racing enthusiast and son of President
Suharto, began promoting the construction of a track at Sentul. Racing had previously been held at the short, tight and relatively dangerous
Jaya Ancol Circuit, on the
Java Sea coast in
North Jakarta. In August 1993, the circuit was officially inaugurated with the
1993 Indonesian Grand Prix for
Formula Holden. Sentul has been used for the
Superbike World Championship between 1994 and 1997 and the FIM
Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix in 1996 and 1997. The
1997 Asian financial crisis worsened the situation and made motor racing an unaffordable luxury for many
Indonesian enthusiasts who had been participating. The facility has also come to be overshadowed by the
Sepang International Circuit, built in 1999, which possessed a superior track layout and facilities. In the mid-2000s, the circuit held two rounds of the
A1 Grand Prix of Nations, in the
2005–06 and
2006–07 seasons respectively. In 2008, the
GP2 Asia Series raced at Sentul. A
Superstars Series race was planned in 2012 and an
Asian Le Mans Series race in 2013, but these ultimately were cancelled. MotoGP was set to return to Indonesia in 2017, dependent on securing the 15 billion
rupiah (approximately US$1.12 million) in funding required to get the circuit up to FIM Grade 1. Due to the rapid rise in popularity of
Formula One in Indonesia following the debut of
Rio Haryanto in 2016,
Formula One Management was also looking into the viability of holding a race at Sentul provided the upgrades could be completed, however the plan never materialized.
Dorna Sports eventually gave the hosting rights for the return of the
Indonesian motorcycle Grand Prix to the
Mandalika Circuit in
Lombok instead of Sentul, which was held in March 2022. Sentul International Circuit continues to host various events but mostly motorbike racing with ISSOM events also held throughout the year. It also hosted the
para-cycling road race for the
2018 Asian Para Games. == Track description ==