GP to lure Indonesians to Sepang
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Malaysian Formula One race organizers are trying to lure more Indonesians to come to the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) to watch the second series of the 2004 season races.
The Malaysian race is scheduled for March 21st, two weeks after the opening race of the season in Australia.
Combined with its geographical access, Indonesia is a huge market with many race fans that the organizers hope to tap into.
Event Director Ahmad Mustafa, on his promotional tour of Indonesia, said during a press conference that he expected Indonesian spectators to increase from about 2,400 last year to more than 4,000 this year.
"Indonesia had the third largest number of spectators (from outside Malaysia) that came to Sepang last year," said Ahmad, who is also the general manager of the Sepang circuit.
Ahmad said Singapore accounted for the most foreign spectators with 8,650 followed by the UK with 2,980.
In order to attract more Indonesians, SIC is currently holding a promotional tour in several big cities in the country and working together with six local travel agents.
"Overall we aim to have about 120,000 spectators on race day this year. Last year we had 101,485," he said.
Ahmad was confident the issue of the bird flu outbreak in Southeast Asia would not affect the attendance nor disrupt the event, saying that there had been no evidence yet of any people in Malaysia infected with the disease.
"We have been working hard with the government to ensure our guests have a comfortable visit," he said, adding that the terrorism issue had also been a big part of their precautionary security policy.
He said that the promotional drive of the race would be included in the Malaysia's one-month tourism campaign named "KL Grand Prix City".
The campaign will be highlighted with street parties, a food fiesta and the Malaysia Mega Sale.
Ahmad said that 20 cars were confirmed to race in the 5,543 kilometer Sepang circuit which will incorporate an overall 56 laps in the competition.
The circuit has 15 turns and eight straights.
Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren was last year's winner of the Malaysian GP followed by Rubens Barrichello of Ferrari in second place and Renault's Fernando Alonso in third, while Ferrari's Michael Schumacher recorded the fastest lap of 1:36.412.