Sepang Track Session on 29th October 2007

Was really looking forward for this trip ... My first Sepang F1 track session. Had been on hold since early 2004 after the high speed accident at Pasir Gudang Race Track. Sold the WRX ... bought the Tucson ... now back with a vengeance! Been to PG track numerous times ... Now time to burn rubber where M. Schumacher, Raikkonen and Hakkinen, the World F1 Champions had driven before!

The journey started out great ... head off from S'pore ard 0815hrs with a scooby fren, Lim ... cleared customs and driving along North South Expressway around 0900hrs. Great view ... excellent weather. Along the way, I was `pushed' by a yellow Porsche ... not one but 2 yellow Porsches. A Cayman-S and GT3!!! Droooooolllll .... No choice ... must respect and give way .... Fades into horizon ....

Stopped over at Alor Gajah Restoran Jejantas (overhead bridge restaurant), off Malacca at around 1100hrs. Decided to have a bite at A&W ... Wow! When was the last time we see an A&W restaurant in S'pore! Anyway, now I know why it doesn't exist in S'pore anymore. Food looks good ... on the posters ... when it came ... haiiizzzzz ... lame! Tastes ok ok only ... Wat to do ... hungry like a wolf. Chow down whatever on the plate.

Stumbled upon the 2 yellow Porsches also ... stopping over for some bites ... Happens to be our track session groupies ... Introduced ourselves and head off towards KLIA ... Lim and I left first and left them with their chats. Frenly bunch despite their flashy cars ... Excellent!
Driving slowly ... keeping to the speed limit ard 120km/h along Negri Sembilan ... Suddenly the 2 Porsches, 1 MX-5 and 1 Starlet appeared at the side .... Gave way to them and we joined the convoy. Coooooooooooolllll!

Along Negri Sembilan ... clouds began to gather ... day looks darker ... sob ... sobbb ... sobbb ... wet road ... raining .... aahhhhhhh ... there goes my perfect first Sepang outing ... No wet weather tyres ... how to excel on track? Praying very hard the rain clouds will go away as I drive towards KLIA ...

No luck ... reached Sepang F1 Track ... drizzling ... roads still wet ... Haiiizzzz ... At least better than nothing .... saddddd .... dissappointed .... Travel all the way ... but no dry patch to be seen. We reached Sepang at 1300hrs ... There were bunch of Honda Civic VTis, WRXes, STIs, MX-5, Starlet and Porsches. Prepared the videocam tripod while waiting for the start of track session ... unload all unnecessary items from car and get ready for 1400hrs ... start of track session. Prior to 1400hrs, we had a pre-session briefing by our organiser ... GREEN Flag! Drive ON!!!!
1400hrs .... Most of them went out of pits and blaze the tracks ... I stayed on at the pits ... grabbing pix and capturing videos of the long straights ... Fuyyyyooooooo!!! The sound of boxer engines blazing down the straights .... downshifting ... backfires ... HEAVEEENNNNN!!!!! YEahhhh ...
My turn! My turn ...!!! Excited sia!!!! Long time never whack on track. Once most of the cars went in the pits to cool down their engines ... I started mine and go for few warmup laps ... Road still wet ... Haizzzz .... my tyres are perfect for dry weather ... cannot make it on wets ... Spin out even at the slowest corner .... How like dat????? Also at certain high gears, the engine jerks violently ... nearly went out of control due to the engine braking ... Came in after 4-5laps without really pushing hard. Haaaaiiiiiizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ... What a way to start an eventful trip!
Went in the pits ... cool off the engine ... went out again ... Same thing happens ... Less spin outs but the engine jerks still there ... Approached my tuner and got him to test my car. Wah lao ehhh!!! He whacked the car like nobody's business! Braked last minute before the corner ... even a `seasoned' trackie like me oso kana push forward when he braked hard. NOW that's late braking in racing! 180km/h down to 50km/h in less than 50metres!!! Like hitting the brick wall directly at 60km/h! The G-forces were ..... climaxxx!!!! Wahahahahaaa ... Syiokkk sia! Never tot my car's brakes are that good! The brake pads suppose to withstand ard 800 degrees!!!
He negotiated the corners at a higher speed than mine and spins out too ... Confirm! The tyres bad for wet weather ... not the driver! heheheheheee ... I bagan to doubt myself before that. ;)
Also ... he pointed out the aftermarket BOV was the culprit for the engine braking. Haiizzz have to get the stock BOV and miss the whooosh sound ... Well ... went into the pits again ... cool down ... and after 20 minutes, went out again ... this time round I was more careful and start to do some late brakings and high speed cornering ... pushing the car to its wet limits ... This time I spun out big time ... nearly hit the wall ... luckily counter the steering and went across the tracks. Nearly went onto the newly laid out astro turf grass ... Phewwwwww .... else $$$ pay again! That's it! That's the end of my track session for now ... There's always another time ... rather than coming back in pieces.
It was only 1600hrs ... 1 more hour of track session left ... snapped pictures ... capture some interesting straights videos and told Lim I wanna move out early to avoid the evening traffic jam. Lim agreed and we targeted 1630 to call it a day. Minutes later ... a Malaysian registered WRX (i think) came in with major damage to the left side ... I guess it hit the tyre walls. Damaged all the way from front to the rear .... Heart pain just looking at it .. even tho its not mine. That's it man! 1630 ... I'm out of here ... !!!!

Well ... nothing interesting happened later on! Did my evening prayers at Machap ... had dinner and back on the roads. Reached S'pore at 2100hrs ... Watched the vids and pix with family ... Can't wait for next session ... Hope its gonna be a super dry session! Yeaaaahhhhhh!!!