C&L Malaysian F1 and Kuala Lumpur adventure - Day 2 - F1 race

[LN89]

Day 2 - Malaysian F1 Race

Pretty photo heavy today

I didn't have the best nights sleep so was pretty tired when we got up at 7.30am but we were excited to see what the day had in store. We both loved the qualifying so were looking forward to the race. I'd been to Silverstone in 1999 and 2000 so my memory of it is pretty vague and it may have changed quite a bit from then but the atmosphere, everything going on at the Malaysian Grand Prix was excellent in comparison (especially for the price)!

We still had some banana cake left over so we had that and Chris popped to the shop to get an iced coffee and juice (2.85RM). The hotel had put out some rice for breakfast as well this day, Chris tried it but wasn't too keen so stuck with banana bread in the room.



We left about 9 in the hotel transfer and got to the track about 9.15am, could already tell it was much busier than yesterday. We went over to the drivers signing and waited but it was very busy and we didn't get to the front. But it was a very good atmosphere so we were glad we waited.



It was noticeably hotter than the day before and we spent a while wandering round but couldn't stay out in the sun for too long. We went over to the grandstand and sat in our seats to cool down while a gp2 race was going on. We were surprised how quickly the time was going, the race didn't start until 3 so we thought the day might drag having left at 10 but it flew by.

We went and got some lunch, I had the kebab today with pringles and water (25RM) and Chris had some BBQ lamb and mash (35RM), we also got a blue lemonade to share (15RM), this was a slightly odd and it tasted more like a cocktail than lemonade, it was nice though when you got used to/ knew what to expect! There was a Porsche race going on while we were eating. We also got talking to a guy from Australian who was sat a few seats down so spent quite chatting to him (who we then randomly bumped into in KL the next day, what are the chances !).







At 1.30pm they did the drivers parade, this was brilliant as they were all in classic cars. I remember at Silverstone they were all taken round in a bus (and am told they still do this) so I was expecting that but this was much better. Hamilton was way ahead of everyone and just zoomed round on his own which seemed a bit off (and probably sums him up to be honest, he really doesn't do himself any favours - we are not Hamilton fans if you hadn't guessed!) but it was really nice with the rest of the drivers going past .







We then waited for the race to start which went very quickly. We grabbed some drinks to keep us going. I am sure F1 fans know what happened in the race, it was very good. The loudest cheer we heard all weekend was when Hamilton's engine blew, he really doesn't seem very popular (sorry Hamilton fans)! The race went so quickly we couldn't believe when it finished! We were on the back straight so we hurried over to the start finish straight to see if we could get in to see the podium and we were able to watch it from the grandstand (we were quite far away, my camera has a pretty good zoom)! It was really good to see though .







Quite a few people were on the track so after they'd presented the trophies we went down onto the track which was amazing but so hot! Apparently the track temp was 50 degrees and being out in the direct sun was unbelievably hot. We managed to stay for about 15 minutes getting a few photos then ducked back into the grandstand to get into the shade. It was so busy getting back off the track and was in blazing sun so we climbed up over the barriers (which most people were doing)!







On the way out we found a little museum which had amazing air con so we and quite a few others popped into there to cool down! We went to the food court to have a burger for dinner, which were 25RM each. The food was fine at the track, probably better than we had expected but definitely not the best food we had out there!

There was an after race concert which Usher was performing at so we headed over to this area about 6.30, it had started to cool down now so we sat on the grass relaxing for a while. There were some other performers going on which finished at 7. We moved and sat slightly closer expecting Usher to maybe come on about 7.15... then 7.30. I think he finally came on about 7.50 so we were feeling pretty tired by this point. We hadn't planned to stay for long as we were so tired so we stayed for about 20 minutes before heading out but from what we saw, he was very good and I loved all the dancing!







I appear to have only got a few very poor photo of the after race concert!

We were getting a taxi back today and there were quite a few metered cabs just waiting. We had a bit of trouble as our drivers gps wasn't working and he didn't know the hotel. I thought I would know the route so we started off, luckily his gps kicked in after a while (and I actually would've recognised the way anyway so think I could've got us back thanks to my photographic memory) so we got back about 8.30. The taxi was 30RM so it was definitely better than getting the hotel transfer.

I don't think I was particularly hungry but really fancied some secret recipe cake so Chris went and go two slices. One chocolate cheesecake for me and a raspberry cheesecake for him. We were in desperate need of a shower as it had been so hot and sticky today so we got changed, packed up our stuff and then relaxed and ate our cake .



We were so pleased we had gone to the race, it was such a brilliant time, and were excited for going to KL the next day

Thank you for reading.

[Melbatb]

Another fab day!

Looking forward to reading about KL (only 12 days until I go )

[Melvin Pearce]

Love reading your reports while waiting for the US gran Prix on TV tonight.

Our son and a group from work are going to the last F1 race for the season in November in Abu Dhabi, they all work for British Airways as Engineers a crazy bunch

Hoping it will be a interesting race

Glad you had a good time.

Melvin and Lesley