A1GP Sepang, KL 2008

Posted by azuan on Dec 3, 2008 in :: All Posts ::, Adventure | 0 comments

All photos from my brother.

A1GP is back in KL. Being a huge fan of A1GP, I put aside all the wedding preparations and personal stuff to spend a Sunday in Sepang International Circuit. For three consecutive years, I’ve been experiencing the Malaysian leg of A1GP live in Sepang! Click here for my post on 2006 and here for my post on 2007.

Guess which one is me? Patriotic aviation fan..

This year’s race however is a big letdown compared to previous years. Something must have gone wrong somewhere as the quality of the event as a whole dropped tremendously despite number of fans that has increased over the past few years. One big disappointment is the disappearance of the festivitites around the track. Gone are many activities in between sprint race and feature race as well as the indoor tents that provide air-conditioned area and sponsors booth. Also missing was the opportunity to meet with the drivers! I was disappointed, very disappointed.

Many people turned up to SIC on the race day. I believe the attendance was higher than previous years. Is this the only KPI for the Malaysian organizer? I would not be surprised if most of the ‘fans’ are there just because they got free tickets. I’m not blaming the move to give away free tickets but with the high number of free tickets being thrown out by the sponsor, would it still be fair for those who are paying RM100? I myself got 10 tickets from 2 sponsors! Nevertheless, thanks to Jobstreet, Mofaz, Proton and others who sponsored the tickets but better management of the giveaways next time perhaps?

Rush to get in…

Cool looking cars…

The race turned out quite well. Malaysian team was quite hot on track but due to miscommunication missed the chance to make it into the podium. Nevertherless Kudos to the team. Sh*t happens in Motor Racing all the time!

Malaysian driver…what happened to Alex Yoong? Malaysian A1GP will be better with 2 good drivers…

Go..go go

Going to a race is about the whole experience, not just the race. The sights, sounds and glamorous of a motor racing event, despite the lacking of activities, my brothers, sister and fiancée kept ourselves entertained by…

a) Posing and chatting

b) Eating RM6 miserable looking tasteless burger

c) Listen to live music. Kudos for the live performance as it’s the saving grace due to ‘cost cutting’ measures. Last year there was a full scale cultural show!

d) ‘Hot A1 babes’ spotting…a.k.a People watching

e) Short Nap… (both me and my friend actually took a nap as the support race is too slow,,)

A1 is a great event to be at. I hope the organizer and sponsors organize it in a much more grand manner and improve it for next year. This is a place for family and friends to spend a good Sunday!

A1 just like F1 is a platform of innovation where engine makers, tire makers and engineers make the best use of resources to come out with a great car that eventually will end up in normal cards being driven by you and me. Traction control, shiftronic gears are amongst innovations that benefit us!

Of course innovation can be off-track also…

PRICELESS!