This will go down as the best weekend of my life!
Upon arrival the Friday we were greeted by a Formula E race car in the lobby along with great Michelin hospitality, not to forget the overwhelming humidity! After the long flights we were off to bed early to be well rested for the next day…
Up and about early Saturday morning on route to the Sepang Circuit F1 Circuit! What a circuit, as beautiful as on TV! Upon arrival we were greeted like we were one of the F1 drivers. The day was off to a great start.
Quick briefing and introduction to our Personal Assistants, yes you are reading correctly… Our very own PA’s to help us with fitting, carrying umbrellas all day for us, bring water, food and just being amazing to help us through the day and heat! Our instructors were all on a world class level, ranging from F1 to Asian Porsche Cup champions right through to Rally experts.
We were dealt into teams featuring all 4 South Africans in a team along with 3 members of other countries. I should be pleased to say we received a lot of compliments on our driving as a team during the day and we were definitely the best team for the day.
We started off with a course on the Michelin Range of tyres, the companies green way of thinking and tyre development ranging from the Super Slick racing tyres and how they incorporate it to the daily performance tyre. Here we saw why Michelin is the best tyre to have! It didn’t stop there, we had a look at truck, dirt, bicycle and Boeing tyre design and initiatives to mention a few. We even looked at shoe sole and wiper designs…
This was now time to take what we learned to the track. We hit the F4 cars chasing high powered Porches around the Northern part of the circuit. The instructors monitoring each aspect of our driving techniques and advising where we can improve to get smooth and fast laps in.
After this we were off to the rally which for me stood out on the day. These instructors were so full of life, cheering to get the car faster and more sideways with corner and dip you take! Those Citroen DS3 were put through their paces!
We were then off to the Southern Part of the track where we were spoilt with the Clio Cup Touring car. Back on tar this was a blast to drive! Nimble and quick through the corners like the F4 car which in my opinion hugely due to the Michelin Slick Racing tyres, no matter how fast or how hard you try to corner the tyres would just grip and go, same with the rally tyre!
To end the day were each spoilt with full circuit hot laps in a Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 touring car and Formula Le Mans LMP3 bringing what we learned on the two halftrack together. The only way I can describe how fast these cars are is by saying breath taking leaving you slightly dizzy when you finally get out! Even with a 6point harness strapping you down you are still being thrown around through the corners, these were lapping Sepang slightly just over the 2min mark! Throughout the day late breaking markers were set out for the Clio and F4 to hit at 190km/h (which was a task on its own without ABS) and now suddenly these cars are hitting the same points at 250km/h!
To our surprise there was a prize giving featuring the top 3 drivers of the day being scored on various points like driving skill and how fast your laps were. I felt such joy winning the trophy! I think my rally instructor was happier than me that I got it, what an awesome bunch of guys!
I surely made a bunch of new friends on the trip, we had the best team! Sadly I’m left wishing I could do that each day of my life! Felt like I belonged on track!
Personally I would like to give a huge thank you for Car Magazine and Michelin South Africa for arranging such awesome experiences which money simply can’t buy! This is truly once in a lifetime experience.
