Saturday March 20th, 2004
Lost in the City
Many Formula One journalists dare not venture away from the airport hotels and into Kuala Lumpur during the race weekend because the city - despite the fact that the Petronas Towers, the tallest pair of tower blocks in the world, lie at its centre - is not the easiest place to find your way around. The forests outside the city often hide the glowing beacon that shines for miles - and that can cause havoc for inexperienced KL travellers driving hire cars.
But if getting there caused a problem for one group of English journalists, getting out was even more difficult. Lesson one: Always write down where you parked your car... especially if it is in the gigantic car park underneath one of the Petronas Towers!! The journalist in question, however, can confidently claim that a silver Hyundai is not the most distinctive motor in Malaysia (second only to a Proton in popularity) so half an hour and only one piece of direction from a security guard is pretty good going to find it.
Election Distraction
Malaysian government officials appear a little worried that the country's 11th General Election clashes with the race on Sunday and have taken steps to fight fans who are planning to attend the race without voting. Transport minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said: "I urge voters who are Formula One fans to vote first. After that, you are all clear to watch the race."
But while the government battles to get voters to the poles, the race organisers are fearing that ballot slips could take precedence over race tickets. "We will miss out on some Malaysians travelling interstate who won't have the time to get to the circuit before voting," warned SIC general manager Ahmad Mustafa.
The situation seems a little harsh on the Malaysian Grand Prix organisers as it is not the first time they have been hit by crowd-damaging problems during a Grand Prix weekend. In the past they have struggled to draw in numbers because of the Asian financial crisis and last year it was the war in Iraq that caused them bother. Despite that, they claimed a record 101,485 spectators in 2003 - and they are fighting to overtake that number this weekend.
Filling Up
Kuala Lumpur hotels claimed to be busier than ever as the build-up to the Malaysian Grand Prix reached fever pitch. Visitors said the city was full of people buying tickets for the race and one hotel, the 620-room Legend, claimed a rise of 13 percent occupancy to 90 percent from last year to this. The ever-popular Pan Pacific claimed a full house from March 15 to 21 - but that is not surprising considering the place becomes Formula One city for the race weekend. Almost all the personnel from all the teams stay there - and the hotel staff claim that "90 percent of Grand Prix drivers" also take up residency for the duration. That leaves two drivers who do not... any guesses which?
Sauber - Powered by Proton
The Sauber team are used to being powered by Ferrari so it was a bit of a step down to see them powered by Proton this weekend. But Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa had little to worry about - the Proton engines did not go into their cars but rather helped power the team around Malaysia on a busy weekend for them. A news report in a local paper showed the team were provided with '12 units of Proton Waja and 2 units of the new Proton Gen.2' (not new drugs, but Malaysian cars) to help them through the Grand Prix weekend. "Sauber Petronas' schedule demands reliable vehicles befitting its status as a world class motor racing team," said Ahmad Tifli Talba, the boss of Proton's flagship showroom.
Published at 05:19:22 GMT
(03-11-2005): 
