FEBRUARY 2003

AFRICA RECCE: SOUTH AFRICA TO NAIROBI

26 Feb 03 - Two more PETRONAS Adventure Team management members are set to leave for Africa tonight. Steven Sim and Linus Low will depart Kuala Lumpur for Johannesburg, South Africa’s capital city where they begin their 23-day recce. Their route will take them from South Africa into Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and Nairobi.

During the recce, they will check for road conditions, border crossings, and facilities. Some of the places they will be stop at include Zanzibar – the spice coast, Kilimanjaro, and Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is one of Africa’s best-known wildlife viewing places where there’s a good chance to see Africa’s “big five” – the lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino and elephant. Distance to cover : 9,956km.

AFRICA RECCE: SOUTH AFRICA TO BOTSWANA

19 Feb 03 - PETRONAS Adventure Team South Africa (PAT SA) returned from a successful 9-day recce, which brought them to Matobo National Park and Victoria Falls. They are in the midst of writing their report and we expect more news from them soon.
Distance covered : 4,664km.

F1 OPENING CEREMONY PARADE

17 Feb 03 - Eight PETRONAS Adventure Team vehicles will be involved in the F1 parade at the Sepang International Circuit during the official opening ceremony of the PETRONAS Malaysian Grand Prix 2003 on Sunday 23rd March. This will be their third appearance on this circuit.

F1 STREET DEMO AT ALOR SETAR

15 Feb 03 - In conjunction with PETRONAS Malaysian Grand Prix 2003 (the second round of the World Formula One Championship), a F1 Street Demo will be organised in Alor Setar. Fans can meet with drivers Nick Heidfeld and Heinz-Harald Frentzen of the Sauber PETRONAS F1 team. Both drivers will be racing at the Sepang International Circuit from March 21-23.

During the F1 Street Demo parade, five PETRONAS Adventure Team Mitsubishi Storms will be used to ferry team drivers and riders.

PETRONAS Motorsports will be having its annual team gathering concurrently with the F1 Street Demo. The itinerary is as follows:

DATE	TIME	PROGRAMME
14th March	1700 hrs	Check-in Cinta Sayang Golf and Country Resort (CSGCR), Sungai Petani, Kedah
14th March	1800 hrs	Manager briefing
15th March	0900 hrs	Community relations programme involving all teams, drivers and riders
	1300 hrs	Street Demonstration in Darul Aman Stadium, Alor Setar
	1800 hrs	Sports between teams - water polo at CSGCR
	2030 hrs	BBQ dinner - teams presentation (show)
16th March		Check-out

AFRICA RECCE: KHARTOUM, PORT SUDAN and GALLABAT

11 Feb 03 - Faruk Abdul Rahman and Dr Zaini Sharaani recently came back from a 10-day recce trip to Sudan, the country which will flag-off Africa Trek 2003.

Faruk, who is also the Logistics Director, went to see the airport at Khartoum, the first entry point for participants. “The airport is very basic and security is very tight,” said Faruk. “We will have to make prior arrangements with the airport authorities to speed up immigration and custom clearance for the team.”

In addition to passports, the management team will have to secure extra travel documents for the team. Due to the last war, authorities are very security conscious. “The people are very friendly, but as there are many local plainclothes policemen, our movement is always watched,” noted Faruk. “We have to be registered with the police within three days of arriving in the country.”

Faruk foresees no problems with road handling in Sudan, which is a mixture of tarmac and desert roads. “What is a problem is there are no facilities (rest stops) along the way,” said Faruk. “Participants will have to do their own cooking unless of course they want to eat the local food.”

Due to rebel activities and security reasons, plans to enter Kenya through south Sudan were scrapped. “We were in Gallabat City, a border town between Sudan and Ethiopia, to check on the viability of crossing here to get into Kenya,” said Faruk.

As Promotions and Marketing Director Azman Baharuddin was in Cape Town at the time, Dr Zaini and Faruk also went over notes for the flag-off and met with Malaysian Embassy staff in Khartoum.

They also met with Mr Kamarsha, the country manager of PETRONAS Sudan and his staff which also included Mr Amir Pawennair, the Business Planning and Development Manager. PETRONAS’ office in Sudan is located at the Grand Holiday Villa, the same hotel where participants will stay prior to the expedition. The hotel is 20 minutes from the airport.

Faruk and Dr Zaini also met several people at Port Sudan to discuss the shipment of cars. As MISC, the official shipping sponsor does not have an agent here, a local contact will have to be appointed. Port Sudan is located on the Red Sea, and is 1,300km away from Khartoum.

En route to Khartoum, the drivers and cars may want to stopover at Suakin. This ancient city of coral was built by the Pharaohs and is 60km from Port Sudan.

Participants should also brace themselves for soaring temperatures. “The temperature at Port Sudan was 38 degrees Celsius and that’s at the end of winter,” observed Faruk. “When participants arrive in June, the height of summer, they can expect temperatures as high as 51 degrees Celsius.”

AFRICA RECCE: CAPE TOWN

5 Feb 03 - Promotions and Marketing Director Azman Baharuddin returned from a 10-day hectic tour of South Africa. During this time, he held 13 meetings with various people and organisations. He met the High Commissioner of Malaysia Datuk Zainal, and representatives of both Engen Petroleum Ltd and the African media.

Azman also explored the closing ceremony site for the Africa Trek 2003 expedition as well as other routes and facilities within the country. Before returning home, Azman briefed the PAT South African team about his findings.