On Friday, Day 2 of the Ferrari South East Asia Grand Tour, we got the chance to follow members of the Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean Ferrari Owners Clubs to the Sepang F1 Circuit. With over 100 Ferraris present, most of which were variants of the 458 and California, this was one of the largest gatherings of Ferraris ever in the South East Asian region. There were quite a number of other Ferrari models brought out, including the now classic 355 GTS, some 430 Scudderias and the all-powerful F12 Berlinetta.
Representing Malaysia at the event was Naza Italia, sole distributor of Ferrari cars in the country. Naza Italia offers quite a number of incentives for Ferrari owners in Malaysia, including 7 years of free maintenance (excluding wear & tear) as well as warranty extensions that stretch the warranty period to 10 years up from the standard 3 years covered by the manufacturer.
This means that owners of these Italian supercars can afford to own potential classics without forking out much more money in the first decade on repairs. It’s no surprise then that so many Malaysian Ferrari owners showed up for the track day, ready to push their cars and learn a few techniques in the process.
Driving instructors from Italy were flown in as part of the Corso Pilota training course. It serves as a great initiation to track racing for drivers who haven’t yet mastered the most important aspects of racing on the track. It’s not all about speed or acceleration. In fact, it’s more to do with timing and finding the best driving lines around corners. There are even techniques to taking corners. The use of engine braking by downshifting, for instance, is not encouraged. Instead, the Corso Pilota instructors recommend braking early, and downshifting after the car has begun to slow down to keep the revs at an optimum level.
Besides being able to learn a few new tricks for the track, owners got to take their cars around the famed circuit and that meant the pits were echoing with the roars of Italian V8s and V12s all day. It was a glorious racket. Even after hours of noise, every car that roared past the pits turned heads. The sounds these machines made, they demand attention. Such beasts could only be owned by those with a very different outlook on life – those who appreciated the finer things in life.
And that’s just what the Ferrari Grand Tour was all about. Members were treated to dinner at the highest restaurant in Malaysia, a stay in Kuala Lumpur’s Shangri-La, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Undeniably though, the owners had a great time taking their metal stallions down one of the world’s most challenging circuits.
We even got a chance to experience what that felt like when local pro driver Melvin Moh took us for a lap in a California T. Needless to say it was amazing, here’s the footage.
There were way more Ferraris in one place than most showrooms even. Quite a lot more. Here are some of our favourite picks. Enjoy.
