Cat cars have been around for a long time now, but under a different name. An anonymous cat lover explains, "Well, we just called it a box, you know?" The first known usage of the term is by Charlotte of www.bluebirdgardens.com. "My cats love playing with boxes," she explains, "And they loved it even more when we pushed the box around with them in it. So we cut out headlights and a steering wheel out of the box and started calling it 'cat car.' "
And how did an innocent diversion progressed into a sport? "My roommate, Shila, is a motorsport fan." said race organiser Lionesslynn, "and like many Malaysians, we looked forward to watching the Malaysian F1 Grand Prix on television as we can�t afford to buy the tickets. When the race organisers decided to cancel the live telecast, we decided to organise our own race. Neither of us own a car but I read about cat cars from bluebirdgardens.com, and well... we do have two cats, a couple of boxes lying around and a race weekend with nothing to do, so..."
And thus, the cat car race was born. The race will take place on the brand new Orchid Circuit, which is situated in an apartment in Ampang, a suburb in Kuala Lumpur. "We thought of using the parking lot downstairs," said co-race organiser, Shila, "but we weren't sure how the other residents would react to that, so we decided to move the action to our apartment."
What is amazing about the Orchid Circuit, which is named after the apartment complex, is that it took less than half an hour to contruct. According to track designer, Chick, the basic track was already in place and all that was needed was to roll up the carpet and move one or two pieces of furniture. And packing away all the breakable knick knacks, of course.
Two teams will be competing in the inaugural cat car race this weekend -- Team Furrari and Team CatLaren Meowcedes. This will mark the first time that either team -- or any team, for that matter -- is involved in such a race and neither has any idea what to expect. "A lot of action," Shila offers. "And a lot fun," adds Lynn. Chick's forecast? "Total carnage."
Adding to the excitement of the race is the natural animosity between the two drivers, Chulalongkat Siam and Gracie Kitty who are racing for Furrari and CatLaren respectively. "Chuwy has always been the top cat," explains Chick. "So, when Gracie moved in with us, he simply hates having to share the spotlight with her."
An unusual race, an untested track, unproven cars, inexperienced teams and a bitter rivalry... Ingredients for an exciting race? You bet!
M o r n i n g S e s s i o n
A visit to the paddock revealed a very calm, relaxed atmosphere. The two engine-ers were spotted discussing previous Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix, in between putting finishing touches to the cat cars. Neither of the drivers were spotted; apparently being an unusually hot day, the two drivers had very wisely decided to conserve their energy (read : sleep). It was agreed by both team to hold the practice sessions later in the evening when the day was cooler.
E v e n i n g S e s s i o n
Team CatLaren Meowcedes took to the track first and the session started badly for them. The sound of the underside of the car scrapping the track was too much for the driver Gracie Kitty, who jumped out of the car two seconds into the first run. After a brief discussion, the team decided to retire to the paddock to work on the problem before continuing with the session.
After a lengthy inspection of the car by the driver -- which involved a lot of sniffing and scent-leaving -- Team Furrari took to the track and immediately issued a challenged to the CatLaren team, posting a brand new lap record of 52 seconds. A second run on the track saw a faster time of 48 seconds, and with that, the team confidently retired from the practice sessions.
Team CatLaren again took to the track and was beset by another problem -- this time, the car over-turned on the fast corners. A solution was quickly found -- a heavy book was placed in the cockpit to stabilise the car, and the team went on to complete two more runs with a best time of 49 seconds, just one second off the lap record.
The race got off to a dramatic start when the two cars collided with each other and overturned when going into the first turn. Both drivers jumped out of their car and started hissing at each other while the two engine-ers sorted out the mess.
Furrari was the first to get back into the race when engine-er Lynn grabbed and stuff her driver back in the car with one hand while holding off Team CatLaren's engine-er Shila with the other. CatLaren recovered quickly and soon caught up with Furrari at the start of the first oval when it's car snagged on a piece of furniture.
CatLaren took the early lead midway through the race, overtaking Furrari at the first corner of the oval. But the fortunes smiled on Furrari when this time CatLaren snagged on a piece of furniture and their car overturned, allowing Furrari to shoot past them to take the lead. CatLaren lost valuable time right-ing their car, and Furrari had a two-second lead over them.
Going down the CD Rack Connector Run, CatLaren again caught up to Furrari and in trying to outrun each other, both teams spun off the track into the balcony. This time CatLaren was the first to recover from the mishap and was in the lead going into the last corner. It was at this point of the race that the Furrari engine-er, instead of pushing the car, simply picked it up with her driver in it, ran past Team CatLaren and ran straight across the finish line, with CatLaren right on her heels.
Immediately after the race, CatLaren lodged a protest with the race organisers, citing illegal driving tactics. Furrari defended their action stating that the move is completely legal under Rule No. 4 "dirty tactics allowed." As the two engine-ers were also the race organisers, things came to an impasse and spectators were dragged in to help with the decision. After a short discussion the two spectators unanimously announced Team CatLaren as the winner.
Team Furrari insisted that they are the winner. According to team engine-er Lynn "We were within the rules." But as Team CatLaren remarked, "The definition of the cat car race is, 'Two or more humans pushing two or more cats in a box around an indoor or outdoor track.' And that's what we did. They didn't."