Malaysia entered the world championship motorcycle calendar in 1991 with a race at the Shah Alam Circuit, held as the final round of the season. The combination of extreme tropical heat and humidity made conditions exceptionally difficult for riders, and the event was notorious for the physical toll it took on competitors across the four years it ran at Shah Alam.
In 1998, the race relocated to the Johor Circuit near Johor Bahru, close to Singapore. The move followed the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which left the local government unable to sustain the Shah Alam venue. The Johor Circuit was overhauled for the occasion, with fresh asphalt laid for the event. The race weekend produced a memorable incident when rider Lucio Cecchinello drove over a cobra that had crossed the circuit, the snake then striking at the leg of another rider, Gino Borsoi, before being hit at speed.
The Petronas Sepang International Circuit, designed by Hermann Tilke, opened in 1999 and immediately became the home of the Malaysian Grand Prix, coinciding with Formula One's debut at the same venue that year. Sepang offered modern facilities, long pit lanes, and a layout designed for overtaking, set in a dense tropical environment adjacent to Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
In 2006 the grid spacing was widened following a multi-rider crash at the Catalan Grand Prix earlier that season. A major storm during qualifying that year forced the cancellation of MotoGP qualifying and one of the 250cc sessions, requiring organizers to combine Friday and Saturday times to determine the grid.
Valentino Rossi won at Sepang in 2010, his first race back after breaking his leg at the Italian round earlier in the season. The 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix ended in tragedy on the opening lap: Italian rider Marco Simoncelli was struck by the bikes of Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi after losing control of his machine. Simoncelli died from his injuries and the race was abandoned. The incident prompted significant reflection across the sport about corner entry speeds and rider vulnerability.
The event was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and did not return in 2021 either. The circuit has been contracted to host the event until at least 2026. Since 2022, the race has run under the Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia title.
The Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang became an established fixture of the Asian swing of the MotoGP calendar, providing the championship with a modern, well-resourced venue in one of Southeast Asia's most motorsport-engaged markets. The Petronas corporation's long involvement as both circuit sponsor and, later, as title backer of the Yamaha satellite team through the Petronas Sepang Racing Team, gave the event a depth of local commercial identity unusual on the world calendar. The circuit's challenging conditions — heat, humidity, and occasional tropical downpours — have consistently been a distinctive feature of the event.