As Travis covered Part 1 of the event, here is my write up for the 2nd half of the event. By the time I arrived at Sepang International Circuit, I realised that I hadn’t had my media pass for the event. Funnily enough, as I told one of my friends who was participating in the event, I had to lie through my teeth to get in. First of all, I started off by informing the guys manning the entrance to the paddock area that I was part of the media (which evidently in this article, I was). So instead of double and triple parking my car at the public parking, I drove my car straight next to pit 1 and parked there.
I started my rounds by taking a walk a long the pits. checking out the various pit bays which have been booked out by the participating teams and individuals as well as clubs. It was a sight to behold from very professionally run teams with pit crew to a bunch of friends having fun at a local event. Sponsor stickers, decals and flags were placed all over and the atmosphere of the location was a vibrant and albeit noisy as well. Music was blaring from the speakers, a DJ spinning some music and an announcer trying to get the attention of the participants that smoking wasn’t allowed in the pit area and children are prohibited from walking on the pit walk.
Interestingly, certain dealerships were participating as sponsors in the event. This allowed them to showcase a display of their wares. One of the ones that caught my eye was the Renault Trophy Cup car. If you purchase it, it comes with a full set of racing gloves, shoes, a helmet, a set of tyres and a 2014 track day subscription to the Renault Track-day events.
Atmosphere around the pits felt very much like a carnival with small booths of merchandise being sold and spectators walking around snapping away at cars, crews and of course, the models who were showing off their line of products.
The event started off with extreme weather conditions. It wasn’t easy racing through in the rain, especially when participants had to make their runs using high performance tyres and semi slicks. Nevertheless as evening arrived, the track dried out and more and more cars started getting better times.
As darkness fell at Sepang, the challenge was increasing. Not only do drivers have to deal with a slightly damp track, they had to drive in the dark. It wasn’t easy as most parts of the track were not lighted up properly. Turns 7, 8 and turns 11 and 12 were almost in complete darkness illuminated only by the headlight of other cars.
Still, regardless of the conditions, every racer just wants to achieve one thing. To be faster than his/her opponents. In order to achieve that, they will push their cars and skills to the limit. There were plenty of spins and crashes throughout the event but thankfully no one was hurt throughout the day.
As temperatures dropped, cars started going faster and by the time the event was over, the winners celebrated and rejoiced as they collected their trophies.
This was the final round of the “Time to Attack” series for 2013. I look forward to 2014 and who knows, I may just be one of the said participants as well. Check out more photos from the events below!
