Trip to Sepang

Well! Before i begin, lets take a look at what i'm SUPPOSED to be doing.

1. Moral folio
2. Maths tutorial
3. Mechanics tutorial
4. More maths tutorial
5. Studying!!

Obviously, going online has top priority. Eheheh. =P
I've been wanting to update about the trip down to Sepang ever since i came back on Sunday but didn't manage to find time until today.

So, went to KL on Thursday morning itself and stayed until Sunday's race was over. By doing so, i skipped Friday classes namely Mechanics, Maths and Chemistry. Wheeeee! I know Adelene missed my presence. And Kiran wanted to scold me for writing nonsense on her book. Again. XD Ask her to show the statistics notebook to you.

Right, about Sepang.

My ticket was the RM 200 one for a hillside shaded free seating spot (but if you buy 4 tickets, you get a rebate and pay only RM 150). The cheapest ticket, RM 100 is also a hillside place but it has no shade. Yeah, RM 100 extra just for shade.

The view from where i sat

Continuation of previous picture

You see, i don't own an SLR camera so the normal camera can't fit the entire view into one frame. The long stretch of white pointy looking thing is -as you can probably guess- the grandstand. That's only the back part of the grandstand. The opposite side would be the facing the Start-Finish line. I read somewhere that the designer of this circuit designed the white pointy roof to resemble a hibiscus flower..Um, you be the judge.

I went for all 3 days, free practice on Friday, Qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday. Eh, not crazy ok..Must utilise the ticket to the fullest ma. Even parking itself costs Rm 50. I know, you're probably thinking "wah, crazy! So cut throat." But then, you'd have to walk reaaaaallllly -and i mean REAAAAALLLLLY- far to get into the circuit cause without the RM 50 parking sticker, they won't let you park in the compound.

Amount of people who turned up on Friday

As you can see from the picture above, not many people attend the Friday free practice sessions.
It's a plus for photography aficionados like my sponsor of this trip. =P

That's him in red

They get to take gazillion shots of the cars without people blocking their way. And, some photographers -pro or otherwise- get to show of their humongous lenses. Which looks pretty weird on the camera when the lens is like 5 times the size of the camera. Forgot to take a picture of one dude with telescope-like lens, unfortunately.

When they say Sepang Circuit is very grand and super ho liau, there might have been a tad bit of exaggeration.

The signboard at the entrance

The other signboard

The entrance. Note the Kimi supporters

When you think of 'mall area', the thought that comes to mind is shopping haven with multiple shops. Alas, this is what the mall area looks like.




The mall area is nothing but an enclosed area with 5 to 10 booths selling similar F1 merchandise. Mostly Ferrari merchandise to, i must add. And the merchandise don't come cheap. A cap costs RM 150 and a the price of a shirt ranges from RM 150 to RM 220. Mostly cater to the foreigners only la..
(i got my Ferrari cap at only RM 15. Teehee =P)

A RM 15 and a RM 6.90 Ferrari cap.
Can buy me original one if anyone got money. XD

They also had a Petronas booth showcasing the BMW-Sauber F1 car and a Mercedez Benz booth. The Petronas booth has nothing much but the Mercedez one has some pretty nice cars. The SL 500 was the nicest and sleekest looking one there.

Why do they not showcase a Ferrari???

Mercedez-Benz

Close up. Why do they not put a poster of Kimi and Massa??

Luxury cars on display

The CL 500

This is the model of the Safety Car used during the race

Also, they don't allow you to bring in your own food and drinks. They 'spot-check' your bags and toss out your bottled water and make you eat your food outside the entrance. So of course people get hungry during the race and are expected to buy from the stalls. The stalls cut will hike up the price as per usual. I only know one bottle of mineral water is priced at RM 5. Didn't want to bother finding out about the prices of other drinks and snacks sold. Just so you know, the parking areas are on oil palm plantation grounds. RM 50 parking lot. Expensive expensive.

And the toilets are nothing to be proud of. Typical Malaysian hallamark. Hhaha.

Notice the fence and barricades which seperates us from the cars. Being so far and all, you can't really tell which driver is in the car unless you take note of the helmet. That can be quite a challenge unless the helmet is yellow like Massa's and Lewis's. And being so far, can't take close up shots of the F1 cars with a normal camera.

It's Massa. I think.

That's a BMW-Sauber

Still, the sound of the engines are really awesome. Quite loud but tolerable la..Though i had on ear muffler thingies cause BAR Honda's engines were annoyingly louder than everybody else's. And BMW-Sauber engines sound like they were going to explode every time they change gears round the corner. Aiya, Ferrari engines are the smoothest and the bestest best ones la. XD

Here's a pretty cacat video of Ferrari during Qualifying. I think.

Anyway, i got to see the cars live! more importantly, i got to see Kimi and Massa LIVE!!!!!! I was this close -ok, fine..not THAT close- to the drivers during the Drivers' Parade on Sunday. Though i didn't manage to take their pictures during the parade. Too many people moving about blocking the view. Everyone moved down nearer to the tracks when the Drivers' Parade was about to start.

Everybody loves Kimi

Compare number of spectators on Friday to Sunday's full house.
Note the red flag flying and the red spots in the background.

It was very fun to people watch on Race Day while waiting for the race to start. Sure, there were other events to fill in the time like Formula BMW Series, GP2 Asia and some mini races as such but people watching was much more entertaining..besides swatting spiders and insects of course (the grass is choked full with annoying little insects). =D The Caucasians are an interesting lot, there were more avid photographers with gargantuan lens, and lots of die-hard fans, especially for Ferrari. =) *warning : photos of topless guys ahead

The Wear-Hipster-Pants-To-Show-Undies style

The smoker gang

The 'gaya' look

Start 'em young

The Massa camp

The Kimi camp

This little boy can do a superb imitation of F1 cars

Nekkid guy

Whoops. Wrong photo. XD

More nekkid guys!

Sleeping guys guy and a lady

Nekkid guys with colours of Italian flag on hair

Told you there were a lot of interesting people walking around..those with pot bellies, man boobs, underwear baring, scantily dressed...etc.
Oh yes, i wore 3 red items on Race Day. A red shirt, red Ferrari cap and my red socks as shown above. XD Another video of Ferrari below. Try listening to the sound, though not as good as the original one.

Last note : I had and still having rashes now, a little token of appreciation from the little bugs in Sepang.