The Sepang International Circuit (SIC) is a racing circuit inSepang, Selangor. It is located near Kuala Lumpur International Airport, approximately 60km south of the capital city Kuala Lumpur. It is the venue used for the F1 and A1 grand prix as well as the Malaysian Motocycle Grand Prix. It is also used as a venue for many other major motorsport events.

The circuit was designed by German designer Hermann Tilke, who would subsequently design the new facilities in Shanghai, Bahrain and Turkey.

The main circuit, normally raced in a clockwise direction, is 5.54 kilometres long, and is noted for its sweeping corners and wide straights. The layout is quite unusual, with a very long back straight separated from the pit straight by just one very tight hairpin.

Other configurations of the Sepang circuit can also be used. The north circuit is also raced in a clockwise direction. It is basically the first half of the main circuit. The course turns back towards the pit straight after turn 6 and is 2.71 kilometres long in total.

The south circuit is the other half of the racecourse. The back straight of the main circuit becomes the pit straight when the south circuit is in use, and joins onto turn 8 of the main circuit to form a hairpin turn. Also run clockwise, this circuit is 2.61 km in length.

Sepang International Circuit also features kart racing and motocross facilities.

PETRONAS MOTORSPORT

Motorsport

Visible Petronas logo at the car of BMW Sauber F1.

Petronas was one of the main sponsor of the BMW Sauber team, and it supplies lubricant and fuel to the team. It also owned 40% of Sauber Petronas Engineering, the company that builds chassis which formerly utilized Ferrari designed engines used by the Sauber team, until being bought out by German motor company BMW. Petronas is also the main sponsor for Malaysian Grand Prix, and co-sponsors the Chiness Grand Prix. Petronas is the exclusive premium partner of the BMW Sauber Team. BMW has acquired the controlling stake of the former Sauber Petronas Engineering. Petronas also sponsors the the Malaysian Cub Prix races.

It also sponsors many other sporting events and teams, mostly motorsports. Some of these sponsorships includes the PERT (Petronas EON Rally Team), the now defunct Foggy Petronas Superbike team (in which Petronas debutes their own superbike, the FP1), and also the Petronas Adventure Team, a 4X4 adventure team. More recently Petronas is also a major sponsor for Petronas Toyota Team Tom's car no. #36 which is currently participating in 2008 Super GT series. The series also race in Malaysia every season at Sepang Internasional Circut . Petronas signed a three-year agreement with FIAT Yamaha MotoGP team to sponsor the PETRONAS branding can be seen starting Qatar race on the 10 to 12 April 2009.

In terms of further Formula One involvement, every year Petronas takes the BMW-Sauber teams to various parts of Malaysia for F1 demos so the public who are unable to go to the track itself get to experience a little bit of what F1 offers. Other promotional events are held in the run up to the race and the drivers play an integral part in this so much so that Nick Hiedfeld concedes that there are more fans for BMW-Sauber in Malaysia in than most other countries.

As part of its corporate social responsibility programme, Petronas also brings underprivileged children to watch the race.

SMART Tunnel

Kuala Lumpur city is sitting on Karstic limestone geology with high ground water table. The Special Features of Karstic limestone include cliffs, pinnacles, cavities, collapsed cavities and sinkholes. Overlying these Karstic limestones is loose alluvium from previous tin mining activities.

Due to the nature of the soil condition, much thought and planning was channeled towards the selection of a construction method that would have minimal negative impact on the geological
condition of the soil.

Some Features of Karstic Limestone Bedrock

It is known that the tunnel boring machine is the most advanced and cost effective method used in the construction of tunnel in Europe. However, TBMs come in a variety of shapes, sizes, using a variety of technology according to need. For SMART, after much research, study and survey, the Slurry Shield TBM was opted for. This machine is designed to overcome problems of groundwater drawdown which has been identified as the root cause of incidences of sinkhole appearance.

In terms of cost, the slurry shield machine is not different from any other type of TBM but unlike other types, the slurry shield machine is designed to create a pressured shield made up of bentonite and air pressure.

This pressured shield is able to counter balance the pressures of the groundwater and loose soil acting on the face of the boring machine.

The Petronas Twin towers

Location: Kuala Lumpur City Center
Built During: 1992-1998
Height: 452.0 m (1,482.9 ft) including spire
No. of Floors: 88
No. of Elevators: 78
Significance: It is the tallest twin buildings in the world.
How To Reach: One can reach Twin Towers by hiring taxis or by boarding trains, buses from the city.

The Petronas Twin Towers are acclaimed to be the tallest twin buildings of the world. Located at KLCC complex in Kuala Lumpur, Twin Towers undoubtedly are the pride of Malaysia. These buildings were constructed during 1992-1998 though were officially opened in 1999. They were assumed to be world's tallest structure from 1998 till 2004, however, the construction of Taipei 101 surpassed them with its additional 13 floors in 2004. Petronas, the national oil company of Malaysia, embarked to build the tallest building in the world.

Cesar Pelli, an Argentine-American architect, designed these towers that were tallest in the world on the date of completion. The 88-floor towers are raised mainly of reinforced concrete, with their façade crafted in steel and glass. Petronas Towers are a glistening example of modern hi-tech architecture and reverence of established religion, as the marvelous facade bears motifs found in Islamic art. Since the bedrock was deep, the buildings came to be known as the towers erected on the world's deepest foundations.

The 120-meter foundations called for huge amounts of concrete and were laid by Bachy Soletanche. Whilst Tower 1 was built by the South Korean multinational-Samsung Engineering & Construction, Hazama Corporation of Japan constructed the Tower 2. They were built on a cheaper radical design of high strength reinforced concrete as a consequence of lack of steel and massive cost of importing steel. However, this high-strength concrete made the building twofold heavy if compared with a steel building.

The Twin Towers make use of sophisticated structural system, supported by 23-by-23 meter concrete cores and an outer loop of widely-spaced super columns, which maintains their slender profile. This entire forecast now crafts 1300-2000 square meters of column-free space for office at each floor. Regarding the tenants, Tower One is utterly occupied by the Petronas and its subsidiaries and associate companies. In Tower Two, the office spaces are mainly obtainable for lease to other companies.

The towers encompass a skybridge, which was built by Kukdong Engineering & Construction. This skybridge lies between the two towers on 41st and 42nd floors, making itself the world's highest 2-story bridge. The bridge is 170 m above the ground, 58 m long and weighs 750 tons. The same floor is also called Podium because the visitors, wishing to go to the higher levels, have to change elevators here. It is open to all visitors, though entry is limited to 1700 people per day.

The skybridge also works as a safety device, seeing as in case of fire or other emergency in one tower, tenants can evacuate by crossing the bridge to the other tower. Up till 2004, Petronas Towers were the world's tallest buildings on measured from the main entrance to the structural top, the initial height reference used by the US-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat from 1969. Since the height computation reference is vague, at times, controversies have cropped up regarding the procedure.

Interesting Facts about the Petronas Towers

• Petronas Towers were built at a whopping cost of US $ 1, 2 billion.
• The towers are built on the site of earlier race track of Kuala Lumpur.
• The towers, together, have 1,000,000 square meter of floor space.
• The towers, combined, have 32, 000 windows, 1,800 doors, and 765 staircases.
• They were designed to represent grace and strength using geometric principles illustrated in Islamic architecture.
• Without the pinnacle, the towers measure 378 meter (1,240 feet).
• Petronas, the national oil-company, is the main occupant of the towers.
• Though the construction was completed in 1998, the towers were officially opened on 28 Aug' 1999.
• The buildings contain 80,000 cubic meters concrete, almost 11,000 tonnes of reinforcement, and 7,500 tonnes of structural steel beams and trusses.
• Twin Towers are part of the 100-acre KLCC Development.
• The Skyway, connecting the towers, is closed on Mondays. Free passes to visit the towers must be obtained on first-come, first-served basis.
• Visitors are allowed to access the bridge at 41st level because 42nd level is occupied by tenants.

1MALAYSIA F1 CAR

By Alan Baldwin

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The new Malaysian-backed Lotus F1 team are ready to start wind tunnel tests on a scale model of their car only a month after they were handed a place on the 2010 starting grid.

"The start of any windtunnel testing is an important step in the development of a new Formula One car, but it is particularly exciting for us as we continue preparations for our first season," said chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne in a statement on Wednesday.

"We had been working on the entry for several months so we already had aspects of the team infrastructure in place; the finances, the factory and the top management.

"Once our entry was confirmed in mid-September, we were able to accelerate our recruitment and car development process and this is really where we are at now."

Gascoyne, who has worked at various Formula One teams including Renault and Toyota, said Lotus were aiming for a roll out of the new car in mid-February to test it before the season-opener in Bahrain in March.

The 2009 season finishes on Nov. 1, with the penultimate race in Brazil this weekend.

"We need to remain realistic in our aims for the first year. We are a new team and we are starting our development late, so it will be an achievement just to get two cars on the Bahrain grid," said Gascoyne.

"I hope by the middle of the season we will have established ourselves as the best of the rookie teams and then continue to make forward progress for the rest of the year."

No decision had been made on the two drivers, with Malaysians among those being considered.

"We need reliable and technically-minded drivers who can help us develop the car during the season, but at the same time we need drivers who are hungry for results and who can extract every little bit of performance from the car at all times," said Gascoyne.

Italian Jarno Trulli, currently at Toyota, is considered a frontrunner in the paddock rumour-mill to join Lotus after his current team said that they were unlikely to renew the 35-year-old's contract for 2010.

(Editing by Justin Palmer; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)