Off to Sepang!

This past Sunday was a truly exciting and memorable experience for me as it was my first time driving down to KL and my virgin run on a sanctioned circuit, which other than our very own Sepang F1 Circuit~!!!

Initially, some friends invited me down for a pit-walk, photo session and some taxi rides, which I agreed to. But I really wanted to bring my trusty Perdana down to truly stretch its legs and to test my skills on track despite the budget. When I was informed that Sepang was going to open up the full track for the 27-Jan Track Day!!! I immediately jumped on the offer, prepped the cash for registration, and off we went!

It was 3.45a.m. on the 27th of Jan when I was rudely woken by a loud Russian song... Darn my alarm! Woke up and called up Tommy and Jay (we were carpool-ing) and had a very slow move through my morning routine then left to pick up Tommy and fill up my Silver Banana (Perdana). We then left Penang Island to meet Jay at the Juru McDonald's for breakfast (or supper). After we've had our fill and done our preparations, we left Juru for Puchong,KL at 5.30a.m. We were slightly off schedule as I was supposed to meet with Tan and Zoggee at 8.00a.m. as promised. As I sat comfortably at the helm of my steed as we sped past 180km/h outta Penang and onwards.

It was super dark through the course of the highway, luckily I had installed a new set of HIDs and adjusted them for highway travel which helped a lot on visibility thanks to its light intensity. We were at Tapah "Garpu Camca"(Garpu Camca - Fork and Spoon in Malay) (I call it so because there's a fork and spoon on signboards to R&R's with food stalls) by 6.45a.m. We had a short stop just to empty our bladders and stretch our limbs then onwards to Puchong, KL. As my eyes were watery from all the strain of driving at high speeds through the super dark highway, Tommy took over to drive as dawn was breaking and light was slowly pouring onto the roads ahead.

We reached Zoggee's place at 8.00a.m. with minutes to spare even with a few detours on account of us getting lost :P The entire team was still sleeping to my dismay, so I went on in and had them all go through a rude awakening :) Zoggee and I had to rub Hush Puppies' "mammary glands" to get him aroused enough to wake up as he had gone through a terrible night with diarrhoea. Kesian the dude.

After everyone took their showers, tok kok (chit-chat) and watched Rides on DRT, it was already 10.30a.m. We went for brunch and preparations then took a drive down to the Dengkil R&R to meet up with Zoggee's friends and off we went to Sepang F1 Circuit. As we were merrily driving on our way there, a bright red TE72 came loudly from behind and revved us. It was Tougeking!!! He had come from Ipoh to join our fun filled day at the track.

Upon reaching Sepang, all the drivers for the day paid in full and signed an indemnity form (darn). We got a paper wrist tag in exchange for RM200 :(


We went in early and waited just outside the empty paddocks in anticipation for the officials to roll up the shutters. Once they (the officials) did so, we rushed in and took front spots and got ready for the fun to begin!




I took some laps on the track and found that the car was really fun to drive, just lacking a little power and some good tires. My brakes were cooked by the end of the day and I drive back on spongy brakes all the way to Penang.


My Silver Banana is now squeaking everywhere and pending a check up but it's all worth the experience of driving on Sepang. Do try it if ever the chance arises. I assure you will not be dissapointed.

Cheers!
*much thanks to Terato.com for the beaut pic*