Sentul International Circuit

Sentul International Circuit at a glance

Location

Bogor Regency, West Java

Type

road course

Length

3.965 km (2.464 mi)

Turns

11

Direction

clockwise

Surface

asphalt

Opened

1993

Capacity

50,000

Address

Sentul City, Babakan Madang

Website

sentulinternationalcircuit.com

Track map and layout

Sentul International Circuit was built to Formula 1 standards in the early 1990s, the first circuit outside Japan in Asia to attempt that level of specification, at the foot of the Jonggol mountains south of Jakarta. The current 3.965 km, 11-turn layout is a shortened version of an original design that was roughly 40% longer before financial and organisational pressures led to a truncated circuit being built. It is a relatively simple, smooth, wide track with large run-off areas and a 900 m main straight, offering multiple racing lines and good overtaking opportunities; Turn 2 is the circuit's signature high-speed complex, while Turn 1 is a hard braking zone from around 140 km/h.

Configurations

Events and race weekends

Sentul hosted the Indonesian Grand Prix for the FIM motorcycle world championship in 1996-1997 and the Superbike World Championship from 1994-1997, alongside a brief run of the Asian Formula 3 Championship, GP2 Asia in 2008, and other regional series including the Asia Road Racing Championship, Asian Touring Car Championship, A1 Grand Prix and Porsche Carrera Cup Asia through the 2000s. Today the circuit's international profile has faded relative to newer Indonesian venues, and it functions primarily as the country's national motorsport hub, hosting the multi-round Sentul Series of Motorsport and club-level car and motorcycle racing.

Getting there and parking

Sentul sits just off the Jagorawi toll road south of Jakarta, around an hour's drive from the capital in normal traffic via the Sentul-Sirkuit exit. Visitors without a car can take the KRL Commuter Line to Cilebut or Bogor station and continue by taxi, or use local buses to Jalan Raya Sirkuit Sentul followed by a short walk.

• Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta (CGK) · about 90 min drive

Allow extra time for Jakarta-area traffic on the Jagorawi toll road, particularly around weekend race events.

Hotels and camping near Sentul International Circuit

An on-site hotel overlooks Turn 1, giving visitors the option to stay right at the circuit, while Sentul City more broadly has a growing range of hotels a short drive away. Nearby Bogor city offers a wider selection of accommodation for those wanting more choice, still within easy reach of the circuit.

Where to look

On-site circuit hotel overlooking Turn 1; Sentul City area (including Aston Sentul Lake Resort, Lorin Sentul Hotel and Bigland Hotel & Convention Sentul); Bogor city for a wider range of options.

Track days, driving experiences and lap records

Sentul is Indonesia's primary national motorsport venue and regularly hosts club racing, driving schools and track-day style sessions as part of its domestic calendar, though no dedicated public pay-per-lap tourist track-day program comparable to Sepang's was found in official or widely reported sources.

Lap records

Spectator guide

Sentul has two covered grandstands and general-admission viewing around the rest of the lap, with a total capacity of around 50,000; the wide, simple layout gives spectators clear sightlines along the long main straight and through the high-speed Turn 2 complex.

Seating

Two covered grandstands, supplemented by general-admission viewing areas around the circuit.

Weather

• year-round: tropical climate, warm and humid with the circuit's hillside location slightly cooler than central Jakarta; frequent rain showers possible in any month

History of Sentul International Circuit

Indonesia's first attempt at a world-class circuit

Sentul International Circuit broke ground in January 1992 and opened in August 1993, promoted by Hutomo Mandala Putra (Tommy Suharto) as the first serious attempt outside Japan to build an Asian circuit to Formula 1 standards. The original design was roughly 40% longer than what was eventually built; financial and organisational pressures led to a shortened version of the circuit being constructed, and a planned Pacific Grand Prix in 1996 was cancelled after the layout was judged too tight and compact for the event.

A brief window of world championship racing

Despite the setback, Sentul hosted genuine world championship racing through the mid-1990s, staging the Superbike World Championship from 1994-1997 and the FIM motorcycle world championship's Indonesian Grand Prix in 1996 and 1997, drawing legendary names such as Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi in the smaller-capacity classes. The Asian financial crisis of 1997 hit Indonesian motorsport hard, curbing participation and investment just as the circuit was building momentum, and the opening of the newer, more modern Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia in 1999 drew much of the region's world championship interest away from Sentul in the years that followed.

A national hub in the shadow of newer circuits

Sentul continued to host regional series including Asian Formula 3, GP2 Asia, A1 Grand Prix and Porsche Carrera Cup Asia through the 2000s, but has not returned to the world championship calendar since. Plans to bring MotoGP back to Sentul after 2017 were ultimately shelved when Dorna Sports awarded Indonesia's hosting rights to the newly built Mandalika Circuit on Lombok instead. Today Sentul functions as Indonesia's leading national motorsport venue, hosting the multi-round Sentul Series of Motorsport, club racing, driving schools and testing, while its earlier ambitions as a world championship venue remain part of its history rather than its present.

Frequently asked questions

Other tracks nearby

• Jakarta National Monument Circuit (Monas, planned/never built) · 40 km · historic circuit (defunct)
• Jakarta International E-Prix Circuit · 46 km · historic circuit (defunct)
• Marina Bay Street Circuit · 931 km · street circuit
• Johor Circuit · 950 km · historic circuit (defunct)