Bar the mentality that track days are meant for the rich and famous, that to drive on a full out race track is expensive and you can only go if you own a really flashy fast car. Please, I beg to differ, what I saw on sunday afternoon proved that thought to be nonsense.
It was as if the entire Kuala Lumpur just descended onto Sepang Circuit with their cars, kids, food and drinks. Yea you got it, it was very much a family's day out. The cars were the pets, and instead of being normal everyday pets, they came in the form of Lamborghini's, Lotus', Skyline's, Subaru STi's, Mitsubishi Evo's, Honda Integra's, Toyota's, Proton's, and the very rare but highly desirable track pet, the Caterham.
So there it all was, the smell of petrol being burned at high revolutions, the sound of tyres screeching at limits grip, the oooh's, the aaah's, the very essence of grass root motor sports and I want to thank the management of Sepang F1 Circuit for helping us indulge in our passion albeit a few setbacks, but we'll get to that later.
There were roughly 150 cars that were present that day, and yes, you can take yours down too if you wanted to but with a fee of course, RM200 to be exact. A bit stiff it may be, but you cant put a price on the thrills and the adrenalin rush you get from driving at the limit in a secure environment. It was pretty intense, with car's lining up to leave the pit area, everyone left together, from those who drove the Skyline's to those who drove the standard Protons. There was no particular order, no number 1's no number 2's, everyone just went out and let loose, it didn't matter if you're a guy or a girl, out there, you were nobody.
Motor sports is famous for its excitement, and of course there was plenty of excitement in this. A few driver's spun out, some hit the barriers hard, some grazed each other, while one front ended the barrier in a 350z at high speed. This happened from 2pm till 5pm, three hours of pure adrenalin, fun, and cursing, a lot of it. But motor sports being a gentleman's sports, no feelings were brought into the pits, what happened at the track, stayed at the track, thank god.
All in all, it was a really fun event, as driver, passenger, or just an observer. The heat really gets to you though, but its not only you, even Michael Schumacher complained about the heat when he was here, some consolation I know.
I would just like to comment a bit about the entire event particularly the price and time. I understand that to manage a F1 Circuit is not cheap, but we have motor sports enthusiasts dying out on public roads while indulging in their passion just because they can't afford to attend track days such as this. Lowering the prices would be ideal but this will lead to a domino effect because doing so will attract too many people which will just create a traffic jam on the circuit.
So why not host it for two days? Charge people RM100 for a 3 hour session, have two sessions per day on Saturday and Sunday. This in return could lessen the number of fatalities on the road and increase the passion for motor sports in the country. More track day events will just attract more people which will bring more revenue to cover for the wear and tear.
Of course it makes sense over here, but we never really know the ins and outs of managing a circuit of this standard but besides that I have to say good job to the management at Sepang F1 Circuit. Keep it coming.
