25 October 2009, BY Sepang International Circuit
Another exciting day at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) as race fans gets a chance to meet and get an autograph from their favorite riders at the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix rider’s autograph session.
More than 1000 fans turn up for the session, some lining up as early as 9am just to be first in line to catch the riders at noon. Valentino Rossi was joined by Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa and fourteen other riders.
Apart from the jam packed signing ceremony, three lucky contest winner won a once in a lifetime chance to be driven in the MotoGP safety cars.
The three winners was Badruzaman Bahanan, Roger Maguire , Dominic Lau or famously known in the entertainment industry as VJ Dom.
“I jumped at the opportunity, being a motorhead at heart and big fan of MotoGP, I woke up early to call the breakfast show and catch a chance to win the ride in the MotoGP safety car,” said Dominic enthuthiasticly.
“It was too fast, I mean it was great going at over 200km/h on the straight and it was great taking the chicanes the way the racers do it, one lap was not enough, but it was awesome, it was superb.”
The second winner Roger Maguire had some help from his wife to get all the answers for the online competition by SIC, “it took two hours for us to look for that last rider’s detail but it was worth the trouble in the end thanks to the fabulous experience.”
Last but not least was Badruzaman Bahanan who tried ten times calling a radio station before winning the ride. “I’m so thrilled to be so lucky and win this amazing opportunity to ride in the MotoGP car,” said Badruzaman.
Starting from pole position, current champion of the Malaysian Super Series as a support race to MotoGP, Yasuhiro Kuhara dominated the Superbike class and clinching first as the chequered flag was waived for race one.
Running simultaneously is the Super Sports and Supertock class, Charles Hern and Mohamad Suhadi Ali Rahmat took first place in each classes respectively.
For the main race defending MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi, who could clinch the 2009 title this Sunday at Sepang with a top-four finish, is thrilled not only with his qualifying pole position but also with the time he set to secure it.
The Italian beat his own pole position record at the Sepang international circuit – which had stood since 2006 and was set on a 990cc machine – to record a new best time of 2’00.518.
“It’s great to get the record because we worked so hard in practice and I’m very happy with the setting we have,” said Rossi. “My target was to try and go under 2’01, because in the winter test here I got to around that pace, but I managed to go even better and beat my own time from 2006 with a 990cc bike and qualifying tyres. It was a great lap.”
With a 38-point lead over Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who qualified in second spot ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner, Rossi knows he could end the title battle this weekend.
“This is the target,” he said. “We have to work as though it is just a normal race and go for the victory, because we are good here. But the first objective is to get on the podium. With these three other guys who are so strong at this level, if you don’t go at 110% you risk starting fourth so the way we have worked this weekend has made a difference and I think we are ready for race day.”
Amongst the exciting on and off track programmes to look forward to are custom bike display and bike stunts, trade and vending booths for MotoGP trinkets and not forgetting concert by Malaysia’s queen of rock - Ella, top Indonesian band Nidji, Jinbara and Hujan on Sunday the 25th at 4.30pm.
Rob Caudill who is known to be the best Rod Stewart impersonator in the world will have his audience up on their feet with his high energy and not to be missed performance on Saturday the 24th Oct at 1.30pm and Sunday the 25th Oct at 2pm.
To ensure that fans have all the convenience of transportation, SIC has taken the necessary measures to provide circuit transfers in collaboration with SkyBus at strategic pick up points in Klang Valley, Nilai, LCCT and KLIA. Tickets are priced reasonably from RM4 to RM15 per way. Parking fees for cars and bikes are priced respectively at RM5.00 and RM2.00 per entry.
Malaysian MotoGP tickets are only RM80 for Main Grandstand and RM30 for K1 Grandstand, tickets are available at SIC.
Latest News