malaysian f1 grand prix pics & report with hotels near sepang international circuit
|
2005 malaysian f1gp pics
KUALA LUMPUR - DOWNTOWN
1: Downtown Kuala Lumpur features the extraordinary Petronas Twin Towers. One of the biggest buildings in the world
4: The nightlife in the Bukit Bitang area
AT THE CIRCUIT
5: Here's Orin at the entrance to Sepang International Circuit
6: 2005 Sauber F1 display car in the circuit mall
9: Pedro Delarosa interviewed at the Mclaren Tent (Saturday)
10: Juan Pablo Montoya interviewed at the Mclaren Tent (Saturday)
ON THE TRACK
11: Turn 1 before the race (Sunday)
12: Turn 2 before the grand prix (Sunday)
15: Jenson Button tries nascar
|
2005 malaysian gp report
Cvetko, Just got back from Malaysia and the 2005 F1 Malaysia Grand Prix. As a cynical New Yorker, I found the Malaysians friendly and very helpful, and they've obviously improved logistics since your last report. Getting to the track from KL is rather easy -- in the airport and all around KL they heavily promoted a 3-day public transport package for about US$20-25 on a quality high speed train from KL's central train station to the airport (about 40 mins.) to a bus transfer to the track (another 10-15 minutes) from which you can either walk 5-10 minutes or take a Sepang circuit-looping bus depending on where your grandstand is located. Getting back to KL was a bit of a traffic nightmare after the race, taking an extra 1-1.5 hours to get back, but this is really no worse than any other race or sporting event I've ever attended.
While I had purchased tickets prior to my arrival, they were still officially selling tickets to the race all over KL and even at the main entrance to the track. No scalping was evident or necessary. Reportedly, it was the largest crowd ever for the F1 race, but I can assure you that there were plenty of open seats in the Turns 1 & 2 Grandstands on race day.
I met somebody who purchased tickets through their site by emailing them and they got right back to him to sell him tickets with no problems reported.
It really is very hot and humid at Sepang, so a covered grandstand ticket in a row high up where there's no chance of being in the sun is strongly recommended to keep cool (and it turned out to be relatively pleasant all things considered). Note that tickets are good for admittance to specific grandstand areas only, so visiting other parts of the circuit in the heat of the day is not worth the trip. Also, the biggest gripe fans had was that track guards do not permit ANY outside food or drink into the grandstands (they inspect all bags and will throw it out on the spot) -- when pressed, they freely admitted that this was to get fans to purchase such items on circuit, although I still found food, water (and merchandise in general) to be less pricier than other tracks around the world. At the circuit's main entrance there is an automobile museum open free to the public, which was both interesting and well airconditioned, and nearby was a buffet dining facility (which I didn't bother trying). The F1 "village" had the standard team merchandise stalls, with giveaways and the odd open-to-the-public F1 driver interviews.
As for KL, it has all the ammenities of a modern city, including loads of ATMs, Western-style multi-storeyed shopping malls at most higher-end hotel complexes (especially near the Petronas Towers or Bukit Bitang), pharmacies, restaurants, and well-organized transport including a monorail, which makes getting to the train station, airport and track rather easy, inexpensive and more comfortable than, say, trudging to Monza (albeit less historical or charming). As a lingua franca, English as a second language is spoken by most people in KL (if not in most of Malaysia).
1) As you can see from my pictures , the grandstand seats are actually seats with backs -- not the hard steel benches you typically find at older circuits. 2) If I went back again I'd probably get the headphones that deliver race commentary, which they were renting out onsite. The sound echoes a lot at the circuit and it's almost impossible to catch what the track announcers are saying, and the big screen tv with the F1 feed was not sharp enough to read qualifying times no matter how close you were to the screen. Regards, Orin Michael Kurland New York, NY, USA
> event date: 032005
> sepang malaysia travel guide and hotels
> Article received: 032305
roving reporter Orin Michael Kurland in sepang for the malaysian formula one grand prix
more open wheel racing pics
|
Find
grandprixcities travel partners
HOTELS:
FULL SERVICE PACKAGES
|
