Thomas Tan
The Super GT 2012 Round 3 Malaysia held recently saw thousands of people packed into Sepang International Circuit to experience the excitement of the adrenaline-rush at the hot and challenging tarmac of Sepang.
Super GT 2012 promoter and organizer JPM Motorsport said the weekend carnival race was a huge success as it received a record turn-out of 80,000 people (20,000 more than last year).
The racing event had a lot of on-track and off-track crowd-pleasing activities packed in between to cater for the entire family’s entertainment.
On the track, the thrills and spills of the Super GT Race saw team drivers in both categories, the GT 500 class (max 500hp) and GT300 class (max 300hp), pit their skills against each other to cross the finishing line.
The weather was at its hottest, the track temperature was reported at 47 degrees which tested the endurance of the drivers and their machines to the limits.
Team No.18 Weider HSV-010 driven by driver 1 Takashi Kogure and driver 2 Carlo Van Dam (who took the wheel in Lap 29) emerged victorious in the GT500 class in 53 laps with a total time of 1:47:52.531.
The GT300 class, Team No.33 Hankook Porsche went on to win the race in 49 laps with a total time of 1:47:57.011. Both drivers Masami Kageyama and Tomonobu Fujii attributed the win to keeping the tyre pressure and temperature steady.
Just like the sizzling hot track, a bevy of race queens in ankle-strapped, stiletto heel and wearing outfits bearing company logos sent temperatures soaring and pulse racing for the many male fans who took snapshots and posed with the pretty ladies of the track.
There was also a car parade with the gathering of Malaysia’s biggest super and performance cars and car owners on the track with 608 cars registered (203 cars more than last year) and broke the record created last year in the Malaysia Book of Records.
Among the highlights of the off-track activities were the motor-show which showcased a variety of cars ranging from performance, classic favourites to super-cars, driver talk shows and the Super GT Queen Malaysia Search 2012 grand finals.
The attractions this year included a mini Japanese themed-Akihabara town (named after the Akihabara Street in Japan) filled with life-styled devices, cameras and other gadgets from Cam World, Avira and Garmin at discounted and promotion prices.
Also held were a Kids Zone, BMX Challenge, Super GT merchandise store, lucky draws, street and musical performance and a Saturday night festival featuring former Miss Malaysia finalist, model and entrepreneur Leng Yein, GT Queen finalists, pop group Sugar Daddy from Taiwan and guest DJs spinning live music to a pulsating crowd.
The final round of the Sony Playstation GT5 Super GT Cup Asia Online Tournament tested the skills of many driving enthusiasts and the winner went to Indonesia’s Andika Rama Maulana after he beat out five other grand finalists from Thailand, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia.
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