Asia GT Festival was a success
Those who frequent the Sepang Circuit know that any regular weekend races (read: everything outside MotoGP, or F1 and SuperGT of times past) will see the grand stand be filled up with all of 50 or so people. There are a few reasons for that but that’s another story, because the first Asia GT Festival recently not only dished out great racing but also attracted a crowd of up to 30,000 during the whole weekend.
On-the-track action was supplied by the powerful GT cars and a massive fleet of mostly Proton Sagas racing in the MSF series. On Saturday, the GT4 class was won by Phantom Pro Racing’s Alex Fontana and Chris Chia taking a 1-2 podium finish in the team’s debut race. As for GT3, local race ace Jazeman Jaafar driving for Craft-Bamboo Racing AMG only lost out to eventual winners Nick Yelloly and Junsan Chen from the FIST-team AAI.
Sunday started off with a bit more spectacle as Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad flagged off over 70 first-gen Proton Saga participating in the Saga Cup. At the front, however, were the MSF Ultimate race cars with massive power (up to 600bhp, we hear), and the first round was won by Alif Hamdan. The second round later in the day was won by Faidzil Alang.
Back in GT3, Jazeman Jaafar was unfortunate to have had a minor tap with Xu Jia in another Mercedes-AMG GT right at the main straight as the lights turned green during the rolling start. While the young Malaysian still managed to continue albeit with a quick visit to the pit for a change of tyre, the other car had to be retired. This meant that Jazeman was on the back foot for the rest of the short sprint race. The only consolation was that first across the finish line was Craft-Bamboo Racing team mate Jeffery Lee and Alessio Picariello, while Team JRM and FIST-Team AAI completed the podium.
In between the main and back straights, the crowd was enjoying not only the on-track action under the sweltering heat but also the Celebrity Bazaar that featured pop-up stores by celebrities that included Amy Search, Joe Flizzow, Elly Raja Lawak, KTown Clan, Raja Mawar, and many others. There was not only food but also many family-friendly activities to try including wall climbing, flying fox, and a giant water tub. Brands like Toyota, Touch ‘n Go, Bufori, Proton, Tom’s Stickers, and LIMA Auto Scooters were also there to showcase their products and services.
“We are elated to have a crowd of this size visiting the inaugural Asia GT Festival,” said Matahari Lee, executive director of Country Heights Holdings Berhad, who is the co-organiser of this event. “The automotive lifestyle industry is an important one to the country’s development – and we want the Asia GT Festival to be that platform and be part of moving that initiative forward.”
The Festival ended with a mini showcase by Joe Flizzow and SonaOne, who were joined by seven members of 16 Baris – a collaborative platform featuring up and coming Southeast Asian hip-hop acts.
