Tuesday, 28 October 2014

MotoGP World Championships 2014 - Sepang International Circuit

Credits to Sepang Circuit
Over the last weekend, special thanks to Ducati Malaysia and Motor Culture Asia, I've been given VIP Grand Stand seats to catch the renown MotoGP World Championships 2014 in Sepang International Circuit and witness Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi along with the rest of the racers upclose and live!


Specially built for racing, the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia stands on 2,300 acre of land located 50km south of Kuala Lumpur City. It cost around SGD $102M to construct and was completed within a short span of 14 months, holding its first Grand Prix in 1999, setting the standards for race circuits worldwide.

Jam at Singapore Customs
Instead of flying up, I decided to ride over 330km from Singapore to Sepang to catch MotoGP.

Check out the massive jam at Singapore customs! Ughh.. It was hot and humid. There's no turning back or out of the jam, so just had to slowly move along with everyone else stuck in it. It took about 45 minutes to clear it.

I'm in loveeee here
Just slight over 3 hours ride and tadaaaa! I've safely arrived in Sepang International Circuit! I can feel the MotoGP vibe and hype already. It's in the air~!


Marshals everywhere managing the crazy traffic, cars were flooding in, bikes were squeezing in betweens and many chose to park somewhere further and walk in. I parked my baby Ducati safely with it's...FAMILY! Hahaha.

I'm so excited!


As we entered, we were greeted by rows and rows of participating merchants:

Hodaka Motoworld Singapore
Dainese
Kawasaki
KTM

Definitely Ducati
From motorcycle apparels and gears at Hodaka Motoworld, Dainese, to motorcycles showcased with their beautiful models at Kawasaki, KTM, Ducati, Aprilia, to accesories like Tissot, energy drinks Red Bull, Montster Energy, and the list goes on and on! 

Ducati Scrambler
Everyone's mood was up! You could feel the whole ambience beaming in excitement, it was really happening!


After checking out what all the interesting things the different booths had, at last, it was time to make our way in for the race that was about to start shortly!

Let's start the race!
With more than 80,000 fans here, the entire stadium was packkkeeddd!

We got to our seats and anticipated for all the racers to appear at the paddock area. I was seated with Ducati Club Malaysia, team red!


You could hear different groups roaring and rooting for their favourite team racers as the race was about to flag off. Many came in funky outfits, flags, face paints and what not.

Race off!
3..2..1.. GO!!!

Flagged off and bam! The racers and their racing beasts within them unleashed.

Credits to motogp.com
Everyone had their ear plugs but me. But the raw sound of it all was damn shiokkkkk!
Their bikes were extremely ear-piercing loud, you could feel your ear drums shake.



Credits to motorcycle usa
Lorenzo (Yamaha) was leading well at the initiative start of the race, not long after Dani Pedrosa (Honda) encountered a low side and suffered a minor crash around Turn 15. He pushed hard and recovered to the 11th position before suffering a second crash, sending the crowd to heaves of dismay.

Credit to Motor Culture Asia
All eyes on Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) as he steadily overtook Lorenzo and Marquez (Honda) at mid stage, drawing the crowd to cheer on enthusiastically in joy! Including myself hahaha. Everyone around was like "YEAHH!! WOOO! ROSSI ROSSI ROSSI!"

Credits to motogp.com
By now, the fight between Rossi and Marquez was extremely close, barely a few cm away from each other, as Rossi continued to hang in there with Marquez right behind his ass (Lol).
Man, it was intense.


After 18 laps under the grueling track temperatures and race intensity, Marquez’s victory is the 12th of his 2nd season in MotoGP, matching Mick Doohan’s record of most premier class victories in a single season.

Credits to mcnews.com.au
Congrats to 21 year old MARC MARQUEZ for 1st Place!
Congrats to Valentino Rossi for 2nd Place! And Congrats to Lorenzo for 3rd Place


After the race, everyone scrambled across the track, towards the podium where the Top 3 were announced! Marquez, Rossi and Lorenzo!




People were climbing over the fence (including me), running like free money is given out there (including me) and having their cameras ready (including me).

Check out the official broadcasters
Among all cameras I've seen, this one win. MotoGP's official news broadcaster's.
You need arms like that to even support it.

46! Rossi!
Once the prize presentation were done, everyone were just scattered across the track, snapping photos and countless selfies, honored to be on the race track where all the Moto GP racers were on.


Ah, what an awesome weekend! What an awesome race!

Once again ladies and gentlemen, that was MotoGP World Championships 2014 at Sepang International Circuit!

Hope you have enjoyed it, until the next round, ride safe!