The true attract of a automobile pageant is all of the shifting elements. Static automobiles permit you to take in their finer particulars, however stay motion brings sound, odor and pace into the equation.
SpeedFest 2024, held at KL Base within the coronary heart of Malaysia’s capital metropolis of Kuala Lumpur introduced all of this to the desk. I’ve already lined the present facet of the occasion inside the enormous hangar at this decommissioned navy base; now it’s time to move outdoors and take in some Malaysian motorsport.
As a result of the stay motion was taking place all weekend, I spent Saturday hanging out across the drift enviornment and Sunday documenting and having fun with the drag racing.
The drifting was non-competitive, however that didn’t cease the native drivers from going ten-tenths on the makeshift observe. Classes alternated between exhibition runs and learn-to-drift workout routines, permitting the general public to slip behind the wheel and choose up some primary strategies.
An E92 BMW M3 caught my eye, and after chatting with native racing legend Zen Low about his ‘drift taxi’, he provided to take me out for a couple of laps.
Because it turned out, Zen is a GT3 racer who has competed all around the world, together with the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. He constructed the 700hp M3 monster in the course of the pandemic lockdowns when abroad journey was unimaginable. As anticipated, Zen’s driving was clean and exact.
Sunday’s straight-line motion on KL Base’s closed runway was extra severe than the enjoyable vibes skilled elsewhere throughout the pageant. It was additionally actually scorching on the market. I spent an excessive amount of time within the solar, however it was value it.
The drag devoted braved the weather to squeeze as a lot efficiency from their Malaysian-built Protons, Japanese Civics, and diesel utes as attainable. Just a few R35 GT-Rs and BMWs additionally ran the quarter mile.
Strolling the staging lanes and pits was a deal with. Possibly it’s my Australian heritage, however I really like an excellent ‘do it your self’ job. You’ll be able to study quite a bit by watching how completely different folks deal with related issues and seeing the work they put right into a venture.
The drag racing itself was far faraway from the massive-dollar spectacle I’m used to seeing again dwelling, however that didn’t make it any much less spectacular. Just a few automobiles have been operating within the 9-second zone, and one even hit a excessive 8 on the unprepped floor.
So, did the SpeedFest staff realise their lofty desires with their first occasion? Was this the biggest Japanese automobile gathering outdoors of Japan? Nicely, if there’s been a much bigger one, I’d wish to see it!
Hopefully, the town’s infamous pink tape slows the KL Base redevelopment course of, which means the SpeedFest staff may presumably have one other crack at operating their occasion right here. Regardless of being designed for plane, SpeedFest remodeled it right into a petrolhead’s paradise.
If the occasion lacked something, it was automobiles from the Nineteen Sixties, ’70s, and ’80s. If these automobiles are hiding in Malaysian collections, the SpeedFest staff ought to uncover them and convey them out for the general public to get pleasure from on the subsequent occasion. It actually can be implausible to see what this celebration of automobiles and tradition may evolve into.
Within the meantime, there are tons extra photographs from SpeedFest 2024 so that you can take a look at beneath.
Matthew Everingham
Instagram: matthew_everingham
matt@mattheweveringham.com
