KL City GP From A Driver's Perspective, Circuit Tour With Alex Yoong

If you’ve driven through the streets of Kuala Lumpur, there’s a very good chance you’ve taken most of the corners that the racers will during the upcoming inaugural KL City Grand Prix. But if you’re a little hazy on the matter, worry not, our own Alex Yoong is here to help.

Now, the street circuit itself, as most of these courses do, relies on the typical 90-degree turn since most cities are planned around a grid system. Kuala Lumpur, however, does not follow the norm entirely. There are swooping corners and gradients as well.

Add in the odd chicane thrown in by the circuit designers, and the KL City GP offers a surprising amount of variety and enjoyment for drivers. As we’ve mentioned before, the circuit will weave through some of the most major roads in Malaysia’s capital city: Jalan Ampang, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Jalan Perak, etc, reaching speeds of over 200km/h along the main straight.

Getting a handle on where the action will take place requires some concentration, but fortunately Alex takes us on a drive through the streets where the racers will tear through at speed, describing the track through a driver’s perspective and giving insight into how and why the corners exist as they do and what a racer needs to do to make the most out of them.

Acceleration forces, lateral and longitudinal, are a big part of what a racing driver has to cope with while out on the track, measured in positive or negative G-forces, and they interplay with different cornering angle and vehicle speed.

To give you an idea of what kind of forces and speeds will be experienced by drviers, here’s some graphs and figures to satisfy your inner racing nerd.

Drivers will experience in excess of 2G and will likely hit speeds of around 225km/h on some of the longer stretches. All on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, mind you. It’s going to be a thriller.