Moto GP

Sepang Malaysia October 2012.

I have wanted to go to Sepang since I watched the first Moto GP race held there on TV. A trip to China gave me the opportunity to combine the two destinations. We flew into Singapore and took the train from Woodlands in Singapore to KL. It takes six hours and there is not a lot to see, endless palm oil plantations and run down towns and villages. The train is much the same, we bought first class tickets but it's pretty shabby. Details about the train trip can be found at http://www.seat61.com/. Take food and drink with you on the train, what's on offer is not good.

KL is also quite run down, a written instruction sheet in the hotel gives details about how best to avoid bag snatching, muggings, rape and car theft. We avoided all four but it's not a place to walk at night away from the main shopping areas. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatier was always lecturing Australia about it's lack of progress, amongst other things, he obviously never left his palace and saw the conditions in KL and the countryside. It reminds me of The Philippines under Marcos, with most of the wealth controlled by a few percent of the population. Fortunately the Malaysian people make up for the shortcomings of the city and transport, they are warm and friendly and really enjoy their motor bike racing.

Tickets in the K1 Grandstand at the end of the main straight cost A$30 for two days, a bargain when you consider that Phillip Island this weekend is charging A$285. Transportation to and from Sepang from KL [65kms one way] is  not easy, there is a bus service from KL Sentral but the oganisation is hopeless, on Saturday there was one bus at 10.00am and the next at 10.30. The bus sat in the 30c heat and waited until the appointed departure time before leaving, even though it was full. The driver spent a lot of time sending and receiving text messages while he was weaving across three lanes. The return journey on the Saturday was even worse, thousands of people standing in the heat while empty buses sat idling until the appointed loading and departure times. We booked a taxi for the Sunday for around A$125, it took us to the track and picked us up when the races had finished, it's the best option if there are four sharing.

The track and the view from our seats were fantastic.

 Zulfami Khairuddin from Malaysia got pole on the Saturday and went within a few centimetres of winning the Moto 3 race on Sunday, the crowd went crazy, the atmosphere was amazing.

 Moto 2 was just as good with Anthony West placing second before they red flagged the race because of rain, another lap and he would have won. One of Australia's best riders who has never managed to get a decent bike to ride. He can be seen in 21st position just above the head of the running rider in the following photo, taken on the first lap, he started 19th. on the grid. 

 

 Before Sepang I had never seen a Moto GP race live, the speed and sound of the Moto GP bikes is unbelievable, how the riders manage to keep them on the track I don't know.

The rain cleared after the Moto 2 race but Moto GP was declared a wet race, at two thirds race distance the rain started to sweep in again. So heavy that visibility was down to a few hundred metres. There was no chance of the race going full distance. The Rossi fan didn't know just how true to his word ValeYellow would be, still at the top of his game 5 years later.

Even with the transport chaos it was worth doing, I wouldn't go back there again but I am glad I have added Sepang to the list of tracks I have visited.

I used my Nikon D80 with an 18-200 lens, some of the photos have been cropped 80% to get in close so are a bit grainy. I should have followed this fans lead and taken a real lens. This is the last group of photos I took with my D80, on the way back to the taxi we were caught in one of Sepang's legendary storms, I put the camera in my backpack but the backpack filled with water and the camera drowned along with my passport, since then I have always traveled with a dry sac.