Tuesday, November 25, 2008

A1GP Sepang - Part 2

Arriving at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday 23 November, I was surprised to see a long queue of people at the entrance to F1 Circuit in Sepang. With a closer look, these are the spectators who are holding the free tickets sponsored by JobStreet.com. The good news: Jason Lee, Shukri, Mike and I are also holding the same free tickets; the bad news: looks like we have to join the queue and take a while to enter the gate. It is always exciting and inspiring to see the crowd, which was in stark contrast compared to the day before (Saturday).
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How many caps do you require? Sponsored by JobStreet.com, the sponsor is very generous in dishing out the caps and goodies.
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Yours truly (KC) dressed to the occasion in red
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Pretty model from TW Steel Watches
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Pretty models and sports cars - a sure-fire formula
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The adorable clowns are there too entertaining the crowds
. One umbrella girl for escorting one A1GP driver
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At 2pm, we saw the parading of A1GP drivers being chauffer driven in Lotus sports cars. I am sure that would be the slowest ride that the drivers would experience. When each driver alighted from the car, the audience gave a loud applause and warm cheer. The driver was then escorted away by an umbrella girl. When it was our Malaysian hero's turn, the entire audience roared in approval.
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The hope of Malaysian - Fairuz Fauzy
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All Malaysians who were watching that event were having high hope as our driver, Fairuz Fauzy was allocated at 4th position of the starting grid. With a little extra push and with the cheers from the supporting crowds, I am sure the 2nd runner-up postion would be within reach. That means Fairuz would be the first-ever podium finish for Malaysia in Sepang. History would be in the making for Malaysia.
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Support crew of Team Malaysia
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At 3 p.m. sharp, the featured A1GP race started and the roar of the machines was deafening. You have to be there to experience the intensity and the loudness of the machines.

Every time the Malaysian car zoom passed, the audiences clapped and cheered. After the third lap, Fairuz advanced to third position. That was really good news. But after a few laps, we saw Fairuz went for another pit stop. The moment he arrived at the garage, he was waved away.

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We sensed something was wrong. Later, we learned that there was radio interference from another team, who were calling in their driver, resulted in Malaysian team making an unnecessary third pit stop - resulting in a loss of some 40 seconds. He was pushed back to almost last position. Our hope was vanished.
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4 laps to go, 11th position for Team Malaysia.
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To be continued ...
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Posted by KC
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1 comment:

Chen Chow said...

Thanks for your support of the A1GP race! It is the pleasure of JobStreet.com to sponsor the free A1 tickets and also the bright yellow caps!

Too bad Fairuz was not able to go on podium to cap a fantastic afternoon of his driving.

From a staff of JobStreet.com