Friday 8 April 2011

Expect rain and ‘Rain’

Expect rain and ‘Rain’

Racing legend Michael Schumacher from the Mercedes GP Petronas team roller-blading in the rain at the Sepang International Circuit yesterday. — NST picture by Osman Adnan

Racing legend Michael Schumacher from the Mercedes GP Petronas team roller-blading in the rain at the Sepang International Circuit yesterday. — NST picture by Osman Adnan

Read more: Expect rain and ‘Rain’ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Expectrainand__8216_Rain__8217_/Article#ixzz1IwU5h3FE

KUALA LUMPUR: Expect a wet day and bring along umbrellas and raincoats if you’re going to the Petronas Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix 2011 this weekend.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department is forecasting isolated rains in Selangor, especially around Sepang where the racetrack is located.

A department spokesman said there would be pockets of rain over the area during the afternoon starting today until Sunday.


SIC chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Razlan Tan Sri Ahmad Razali, however, is not deterred by the prospect of rain as he felt it would add to the excitement of the race.

“It takes an immense amount of skill to be able to push the Formula One cars to its limit even during dry weather.

“On a wet day, drivers will have to take greater amount of risks to gain the edge over their competitors,” he said.


He said the wet track would also allow spectators to witness spectacular overtaking manoeuvres performed by the drivers.

He is, however, hoping to avoid a repeat of the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix where the race was abandoned due to torrential rain.

“No amount of drainage engineering can salvage a race if it rains heavily like in 2009.


“Too much rain can jeopardise the drivers’ safety. “If the International Automobile Federation (FIA) feels that the rain is too heavy, the race will have to be cancelled for the safety of the racers.”

He said heavy rain would also pose a problem to off-track operations.

“The roof membrane on the grandstand area is prone to leaks and we are still procuring funds to solve the problem.”

However, he is confident the wet weather would not deter hard-core F1 enthusiasts.

“We have already exceeded our projected target of 100,000 visitors over three days judging from the number of tickets sold to date.

“We are expecting another 20 per cent increase in ticket sales once the practice laps start.”

Razlan said the Malaysian Grand Prix would also be the testing ground for the new Pirelli tyres to be used for this season.

“No one really knows how the wet tyres will perform in the actual race as the designs are new.

“This all adds to the thrills and spills for the Malaysian Grand Prix... anything can happen.”

Meanwhile, spectators can also look forward to the appearance of South Korean pop-singer Rain (real name Jung Ji-Hoon), who will be performing his latest hits at the Sepang F1 post-race concert this Sunday.



Read more: Expect rain and ‘Rain’ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Expectrainand__8216_Rain__8217_/Article#ixzz1IwTtOv9z


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