Magic FORMULA in Sepang, Malaysia

(bummer. Nico Rosbergs Williams engine blew up...well, tht happened at least right in front of us)

(To provide a suitable background for this post, play this short mp3 and set your stereo and speakers to max volume ;-) More pictures can be found here.)

DON'T FORGET YOUR EARPLUGS

A Canadian told me around New Year's Eve that the Formula 1 would be in Malaysia this March. It is weird that I had not realized that earlier. There was a not too distant time when I had all facts and dates always ready...I have been a big fan of the F1 in midst 90s, but my interest faded after 2000, maybe because of my studies then, maybe because all the new regulations made it just less interesting. The F1 had changed or me, probably either. However, the outcome was that Formula 1 races began to be medium-interesting events, that did not deserve full attention anymore..:-)

(all Malaysian beauty - the big city of Kuala Lumpur was just 1 hour away anyway - accumulated in Sepang that weekend...the picture shows you grid girl 'Umi' who made the BMW Formula 1 car she was supposed to present even more sparkling...)

HOT IN EVERY SENSE

But still...this opportunity of seeing that kind of event live was so tempting that there was not really a second thought. Just imagine, we paid 50 Malaysian Ringit (roughly 12 Euro) for the whole weekend ticket, including qualifying, race, Porsche Cup and anything else that took place there. (Moto GP later this year is even cheaper...I heard that the best grandstand ticket will cost 10 Euro for the whole weekend...the cheaper ones around 2 Euro!...That really leaves not much of a choice, don't you think?).

(the Malaysian Formula 1 circuit..we had our place just next to C1)

(we experienced the race like the local Malaysians..no grandstand, but openair meadows with palm trees that gave at least some shade...this is 'F', according to map above)

So how to characterize the experience? INCREDIBLE heat (38°C = 100°F) + humidity of course. None of us (we were 5 friends /colleagues, all from Infineon) had ever been to a F1 race. The most stunning characteristic was the noise and generally the first few minutes of the race, which basically made quite an impression. Everyone stood up when the cars where on the track and screamed their way past us. The power and force seems to vibrate through the body when the engines go as high as 19.000rpm (=revolutions per minute, a normal car usually will hardly go higher than 6000rpm and this is already noisy enough!)

Our experience was a bit spoiled by the fact we had no TV-screen to trace what was really going on down there. After a few laps it is just not possible anymore. Luckily, some Malaysians next to us were well-equipped with tent, diesel-generator and TV (!), so we could at least get the ranking from time to time. All in all, very impressive to see this, won't be the last time. It was a bummer that my favorite Rosberg had to face an exploding engine so early in the race, but we'll see later this year!

(not this time, Schumi. Fisichella won here in Sepang...one thing I realized though is that M. Schumacher really seems to personify the sport to some degree. everyone knows him...red car, red helmet..that's the common denominator. I might be a bit biased here because of my origin, but I'm not his biggest fan. Still, the feeling of respect for this driving talent was prevalent here..)

WHAT IS A PROTON?

This post is all about engines and cars. I cannot leave out to tell that I was very happy to finally drive a rental Proton Waja that weekend. Proton?! Huh? Never heard? It is basically an abbreviation for Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional, which can be roughly translated into 'National Automobile Project'. It is mainly a Malaysian symbol of patriotism to buy and drive a Proton (however the percentage of Proton cars declined from the usual 60% to 30% in 2005..but they still seem to own the streets..). This state company came into existence only in 1983. The one who knows Mitsubishi and Citroen car models will quickly recognise some remarkable 'similarities' which are not quite coincidental.

Well, driving in Kuala Lumpur was 'fun'. One really has to develop some 'bad boy'-behavior to survive there. However, it was a good idea to get a Malaysian car nonetheless, not just because of the price (50 Euros for 2 days!). Singaporean cars are very visible in MY, since all the numberplates begin with an 'S'. Other drivers and especially police (I'm not kidding) love to pick out Singaporean cars on roadblocks for any conceivable offence. It's just not a good idea to take out your Singaporean BMW or Mercedes in the Malaysian countryside, if you don't want someone to try his keys on the polish overnight...

One last, but important thing. Please mind that Malaysians do not turn on a rear fog light in case of bad visibility on the highway (we happened to drive into a typical tropical rain storm on our way back to Singapore on Sunday night). Suddenly, you will see all cars around you with switched on hazard warning lights. This caused some confusion with me, because they would of course not slow down...

Maik