F-ing Good FORMULA ONE in MALAYSIA
Dr Ncifi gets around… Eat yr hearts out F1 fans. He always makes us lag with his writing so even if you’re not into F1 – have a lag…
Geez, what a hectic weekend in Kuala Lumpur. It was what I call an F-ing good weekend, firstly the Force of nature concert, then the F1. Malaysia’s Sepang International Raceway, about an hour out of the city famous for its Petronas Twin Towers (where I work by…
the way). Petronas, or Petroleum Nasional, form the back bone of the Malaysian economy and are responsible for bringing this awesome Grand Prix here. They also happen to co-sponsor the Sauber team, so there is huge interest here in the race.
Some 120 000 people made their way out to Sepang to witness what can only be described as sheer power. I am not the world’s biggest F1 fan, and bear no allegiance to any particular team, since my childhood hero Nikki Lauda crashed his Maclaren and burnt both his ears off in the mid eighties. However, I figure an F1 grand prix live is one of the mandatory tick boxes in life that you have to tick, like attending an Olympic Games or seeing a lion kill (ok I am a bit homesick).
Some of my patients (I crack peoples backs) who are have attended all 7 of the Malaysian Grands Prix tried to warn me about the speed and noise that these racing cars generate, since television doesn’t come close to illustrating this. Its only when you are live at the track that you realise how unbelievably loud and fast these buggers are. Ear defenders are mandatory, and don’t try and be a cheap skate and use press stick, cos its not going to do the job. We went out and spent the GDP of Bhutan on a pair of ear defenders, to try and dampen the noise. And I don’t really think they worked, since when I saw my first patient on Monday morning, I started treating her for hand pain instead of a headache&.
Anyway, the actual start of the race was obscured from view, since we were in the sardine seats on the hill overlooking the back straight, but the noise of the start was incredible. The race itself was honestly quite boring since you don’t get to see any leader board, but the beers and noise made up for the quite periods. I had a friend who tried to drink a beer for every lap, not realising there were 56 laps in the race. Needless to say, he didn’t see much.
There was one accident quite near to where we were standing which was very cool, but apart from that it was a pretty normal affair. I don’t think I would head back in a rush, the traffic jam was a nightmare and track temperature in the mid forties were also a bit of a challenge, but either way, it was an awesome affair that has put Malaysia on the map internationally, and is probably why most people drive so badly here.
I hope Mzansi will get another F1 soon, it does wonders for spirit and gives a lot of status to the country.
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