Shah Alam Circuit (حلبة شاه عالم) or Batu Tiga Speedway Circuit was a racing circuit in

Shah Alam Shah Alam () is a city and the state capital of Selangor, Malaysia and situated within the Petaling District and a small portion of the neighbouring Klang District. Shah Alam replaced Kuala Lumpur as the capital city of the state of Selangor ...

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. The circuit layout was designed by Dutchman

John Hugenholtz Johannes Bernhardus Theodorus "Hans" Hugenholtz, known in English-speaking countries as John Hugenholtz (October 31, 1914, Vledder – March 25, 1995, Bentveld) was a Dutch designer of race tracks and cars. Hugenholtz's father, of the same name, ...

History

The circuit was opened in 1968. The 1968 Malaysian Grand Prix was held there on 8 September as a

Formula Libre Formula Libre, also known as Formule Libre, is a form of automobile racing allowing a wide variety of types, ages and makes of purpose-built racing cars to compete "head to head". This can make for some interesting matchups, and provides the oppo ...

race and was won by

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesia ...

Hengkie Irawan driving an

Elfin 600 The Elfin Type 600 is a Formula car produced from 1968 to 1971 by Elfin Sports Cars in Australia. The model was originally developed to compete in the Australian 1½ Litre Formula but later variants were also produced for other categories includ ...

. The circuit was the venue for the

Malaysian Grand Prix The Malaysian Grand Prix (officially the Malaysia Grand Prix from 1963–1965 and 2011–2017 and Malayan Grand Prix in 1962) was an annual auto race held in Malaysia. It was part of the Formula One World Championship from 1999 to 2017 and it ...

until 1982, with the starting field consisting alternately of vehicles from the

Formula Atlantic Formula Atlantic is a specification of open-wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club ...

Formula Pacific Formula Pacific was a motor racing category which was used in the Pacific Basin area from 1977 to 1982. It specified a single-seat, open-wheeler chassis powered by a production-based four-cylinder engine of under 1600cc capacity. The formula was ba ...

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name r ...

. The last Malaysian Grand Prix race held in Shah Alam was held for

Formula Brabham In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwe ...

in 1995. The circuit was closed in 1977 after an accident that killed six children, although it later reopened after improvements of fences and guard rails around the track were carried out. In 1985 the track was lengthened from to with the addition of the curve 11.Tracks: Shah Alam, Batu Tiga
/ref> In the same year, the first international racing event was held. Titled as the 1985 800 km of Selangor, the race was the tenth and final round of the

1985 World Endurance Championship The 1985 World Sportscar Championship season was the 33rd season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1985 World Endurance Championship which was contested over a series of races for Group C1 and Group C2 Prototype ...

, and was won by

Jacky Ickx Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx (; born 1 January 1945) is a Belgian former racing driver who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times (second-highest of all time) and achieved eight wins and 25 podium finishes in Formula One. He greatly contributed ...

and

Jochen Mass Jochen Richard Mass (born 30 September 1946) is a German former racing driver. Life and career Born in Dorfen, Bavaria 50 km (31 mi) from Munich, Mass participated in 114 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 14 Ju ...

driving a Porsche 962C. The circuit hosted rounds of the

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

in the

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

and

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the ...

, and from

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

it hosted the

Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix The Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix is a round of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship. The event is due to take place at the Sepang International Circuit until at least 2024. History The first Malaysian Grand Prix was held ...

. Mick Doohan is the all-time leader in motorcycle Grand Prix victories at the venue, winning the event four times. The motorcycle Grand Prix was later moved to the Johor Circuit, and later to the

Sepang International Circuit The Sepang International Circuit ( ms, Litar Antarabangsa Sepang) is a motorsport race track in Sepang Pekan Sepang is a small border town and also a mukim in Sepang District, Selangor, Malaysia. The Sepang International Circuit in the ...

. In 2003 the circuit was sold by Selangor state government to a property developer, which then developed the area into a luxury housing project by the name D'Kayangan.

Details

The Batu Tiga Speedway Circuit Track Details In Brief: *Total Area: *No. of Pits: 57 units, 42 units concrete pit (22' x 17'), 15 units wooden pits (22' x 7') *Spectator capacity: Covered grandstand - 8000, Uncovered grandstand - 18,000 *Track length: (1968–1984) / (1985–2003) *No. of Turns: 14. Left -4, Right -10 *Straights: 3. The longest straight was *Gate Entrances: 3

Lap records

The official race lap records at the Shah Alam Circuit are listed as:

In popular culture

The track was used as one of the shooting locations for

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

's 1995 film ''

Thunderbolt A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the Proto-Indo-European mythology#Sky Father, 'Sky Father'; this ...

''.

References

{{Asian Touring Car Series circuits Motorsport venues in Malaysia Grand Prix motorcycle circuits Defunct motorsport venues Shah Alam Malaysian Grand Prix Sports venues in Selangor Sports venues completed in 1968 1968 establishments in Malaysia 2003 disestablishments in Malaysia

History

Details

Lap records

In popular culture

See also

References