Super GT: Day 2

21st June

Final day of Super GT. There are no early morning sessions on track so my first stop was the P1 open parking. Time for some Initial D action..


Well known female drifter Leona Chin in action..


In person...

She is quite a popular character with people waiting to have their pictures taken with her. Pity the other guy drifters.....haha

Made my way into the track for the Super GT warm-up session. Along the way, spotted a bunch of girls getting ready behind the On The Road booth. Something's up... 10 mins later, the girls came out and there was a mad rush as people push their way closer to take photos (me included)..








This is how crazy it was. I think the organizer moved the girls outside just in case the mob tore down their booth..


Took a seat at the main grandstand to take a look at the happenings inside the pits..




Similar to Saturday, the sky was overcast with rain clouds looming. Just as the pit safari started, the rain came...


And it got heavier by the minute...


The Aston Martin support race was ran in the downpour, providing some nice visuals...


About half an hour before the scheduled pit walk starts, the rain stopped. Thank God for that. The queue for the pit walk snakes around the courtyard with people waiting in line under the bright sun. I was beginning to regret buying the $100 pit pass. With this many people, i knew it would be a mess once the gates opened. Surprisingly, everybody was on their best behavior, moving along nicely when the pit tunnel opened; except for some queue jumper.

A fellow photographer gave me this tip beforehand; get to the end of the pit walk and shot your way back down. This way you stand a better chance of avoiding the crowd. For the next 30mins, it was a mad rush going up and down the pit and fighting for a good spot to shot the GT Queens.




























Crowd favorites: The ZENT race queens..


and the BOMEX girls..


East meets West... the Aston Martin Cup race queens..


Before the 40mins allocation were up, the marshals started blowing their whistle and asked people to leave the pit lane. After the hectic pace of the pit walk, took a seat at the grandstand to enjoy my overpriced and undersized burger. While waiting for the main event to start, the Formula V6 and GT3 support races took place but i was too tired to take pictures of them.

Around 3 pm, 1 of the shutter door opened and the army of race queens begin to make their way to the starting grid much to the delights and cheers of the crowd..


followed by the mechanics...


and the cars...


and the big boss on track..


All this while, the photographers were made to wait at the other side of the gate. Once the gate opened...


With so many people trying to get onto the grid, the marshals had a tough time controlling the crowd..


The dedicated photographers...ahem..




Even under the heat and under the scorching sun, the GT Queens are always looking their best..




This was how the grid looked like...


Oblivious to crazy scene around them, the team mechanics go over some final checks..


The Malaysian and Japanese national anthem reverberated across the track..


Moments before the warm up lap... the grid is empty, the cars are ready and the crowd is one their feet..


The lights are green...


and the race is on!!!


More car action shots from the race...










Parting shot..


The End.. to be continued in 2010..