Malaysia Organisers Expect Exciting Race

Organisers of next Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix believe the race will be even more exciting than the dramatic season-opening Australian Grand Prix and have tipped the Sepang circuit to produce even closer racing than Albert Park.

The rain-hit Australian Grand Prix saw action from start to finish and ended with the usually dominant Ferrari team failing to finish on the podium and Scot David Coulthard, of McLaren, a surprise winner.

The Sepang circuit's general manager, Ahmad Mustafa, believes the excitement will continue in Malaysia and believes the teams will be even more closely matched after ironing out the mistakes they made at Albert Park.

"The Australian Grand Prix, being the opening round, showed that some of the drivers and teams are still jittery over the new rules that were introduced this year," he explained.

"I believe when they come to Malaysia the drivers and teams will come to race with a better frame of mind and better understanding of what the new rules is all about. In short, we will have a closer contest in Sepang."

Early weather forecast for the Malaysian weekend predict rain as well, with the venue already hosting previously some of the heaviest-raining races in recent years.

The race made its debut in 1999 and drew in a healthy crowd but when ticket prices rose in the following two years fans stayed away in their droves and forced the circuit into financial problems.

The arrival of local boy Alex Yoong on the Formula One scene, driving for Minardi, last year was a successful ploy by the Malaysian government, who effectively funded the drive through the Kuala Lumpur tourist agency.

His presence, as the first Malaysian Formula One driver, ensured a record crowd of 92,500 and put the SIC, acknowledged as the most advanced Formula One circuit on the calendar, back on track.