Oh yes!
Formula 1 is back in
Kuala Lumpur. With that, most car manufacturers or sponsors are displaying their cars/products through various promotions/events. The main F1 event, the
Malaysian Grand Prix leg, will be on from 6-8 April 2007 to be held at
Sepang International Circuit, 45 mins drive from the city centre.
I was at one of them yesterday evening. At the courtesy of
BMW Sauber F1 Team with
Petronas of Malaysia, the petrol supplier to the team. BMW Sauber has set up a
Pit Lane Park in the vicinity of
KLCC Park which was walking distance from my office. A slow stroll with another colleague to the Pit Lane Park under a windy weather was perfect.
Scheduled to open at 7pm, we were there by 6.40pm and a sizeable crowd was already there. By 7pm, an estimated crowd of about 100++ lined up to get in.
We were provided with 2 ear plugs and a tag. FYI, the tag has no special privileges.
That was how close we could get our hands on it. As we made our 2nd round later, due to more people, you could not step in too near or even touch it.
A specially built paddock lounge for BMW owners & invited guests. This paddock lounge will be the place to be, besides the F1 track in Sepang, to view the F1 race on Sunday.
Unfortunately, the paddock is only opened to BMW owners on the race day. Find some BMW owners who would be staying at home on Sunday and borrow their BMW car keys to obtain entrance. Yeah, a car key is all you need to get in.
The pit stop challenge! Everyone was given a chance to feel the intensity during a pit stop.
Without fail, I got my hands into it as well. Partnered a reporter, I was tasked with taking the wheel out and putting the next wheel in so that my reporter mate could drill the cap back on. False start on the first time as the timer was not switched on.
Finished first though.
On the 2nd attempt, we did even faster and finished ahead but the other 3 tyres were changed at a much slower pace. The end timing was 10.7 seconds. The announcer said that we will destroy the team's chances with that timing. If you are able dip below 10 secs, you'll be given a certificate.
A virtual challenge was available. Didn't really like it but the fastest lap on the clock during my time there was 1'40" by a foreigner. The top 3 performers' name would be displayed at a scoreboard. The whole game structure was designed and sponsored by
Intel.
The BMW Safety Car.
Close-up photo take on the vehicles that would go for a spin later on.
A scaled-down Formula One car that would be driven by
Nick Heidfeld later.
Chris Pfeiffer's bikes. Chris is a renowned street bike performer.
This place was initially a car park but was turned into this pit lane liked area.
Time passes by. Forced to wait till 9pm for the performances. Caught hold of the
Petronas Twin Towers, the world's former tallest structure, now placed 2nd. Further to the left was the
KL Tower (or Menara KL).
That was how delicate & serious they were in tuning the car prior to a simple performance.
Out came the Formula One car driven by Nick Heifeld.
Only a few spins here and there, good enough to cheer up the crowd of about 220 at the grandstand. Further down the lane, there were about another BMW/Petronas 200 guests. Lining at both sides of the lane was about 100++ people. The ear plugs were good as the engine roared at a high decibel.
Chris Pfeiffer soon came out with his outstanding stunts/tricks. Here, he braked at an instant. Can't catch a good photo as the phone cam doesn't have a faster shutter speed.
Chris was burning his bike's back tyre to the thrill of the crowd.
A three-wheel bike? He spun so fast that that was what I caught. Chris, being a professional rider, has won the
Streetbike-Freestyle in the recent Indoor World Championship held in Zurich, Switzerland.
Post-mortem discussion on the car's performance? Nick, in the centre, was quite a short guy.
The setback in this big event was that the night's programme was not known till it was announced much later. Good thing Wednesday's night event was from 7pm-11pm. That too, I have to be there till 9pm for a half an hour performance. Imagine coming on the next few days where it starts from 3pm-11pm, how would one know when the cars be given a spin around. Do I have to be there from 3pm-11pm to wait for it to be announced?
Tags: Sports, Formula One, F1, Malaysia Grand Prix, BMW Sauber, Petronas, Pit Lane Park, KLCC, Petronas Twin Towers, KL Tower, Menara KL, Nick Heifeld, Chris Pfeiffer, Intel 
Proton has at last manufactured and produced a model to replace the oldest car model in its stable of cars.
Five variants are available for you to choose.
The price is within the range of many Malaysians i.e. between RM31,500 to RM39,998 (RM3.30 = US$1.00), depending on what add-ons you are looking for.
You have to read this blog posting - How to Survive With Your Salary? This will actually proof what Proton Holdings Berhad's Managing Director has stated - "anyone who earns about RM1,300 a month can afford the new Saga" do not hold any truth.
This 1.3 model has a fuel consumption rate of between 6 and 6.3 litre per 100km.
Honda, with its worldwide market, will match its Honda Accord model with consumers' want.
Proton, the Malaysian car manufacturer that is being courted by Volkswagen, produced the Proton Saga model in year 1985 and stucked to its same design for the next 20 years. They call it consistency!
Solid car........ how I wish just to test drive it only. Just found out that Lamborghini is being managed by 
Japan... 
Spain ... 
USA...... do I have to tell the speed...
Max Speed not disclosed due to Security Reasons ... 
