It's time to recap what happened during the first ever XLR8 automotive festival

We’ve created a whole new meaning to carnivals with the event XLR8, it has everything and anything to please motoring hacks of all ages and sizes. From high speed taxi rides in Mercedes AMG cars to revisiting the icons that has graced the small and big screens to a competition that had everybody at the edge of their seats, that was what XLR8 is all about. And it all kicked off at the Gala Dinner on the first night.

The grand dinner known as the Platinum Experience happened on the first day of XLR8 where we have the representatives from Petronas, the official title sponsor of XLR8 to officiate the event. Guests were also serenaded to the sweet music of Aubrey Suwito and friends, namely Dayang Nur Faizah, Vince Chong and Jaclyn Victor. The main highlight of the show though is the presence of former Formula 1 driver Jean Alesi!

But, to put it bluntly, all had not went well on the second day of XLR8. The weather had been our worst enemy of the day, we could barely see five feet into the lake in which XLR8 sat next to! Even in the small area of Pullman Putrajaya where we’ve displayed Asia Klasika we could spot the haze. Hence, do forgive our slightly blurry images as the haze had insisted on getting in the way.

Only few had braved the haze on Saturday and made the walk from the hotel central all the way to the airfield in the back, to either catch a glimpse of the iconic KITT or a bite to eat at the Fest for All trucks lined up alongside the Mercedes-Benz Urban Hunting Art cars. The more adventurous had even stayed behind to watch the great Flying Sikh take the Mercedes AMG cars down a long straight and back!

Thankfully, Sunday had seen a massive improvement in weather conditions. The haze had lifted allowing us to admire the beautiful scenery that the lake has to offer. Both King of Clubs, the main event of XLR8, and Tarmac Warriors had taken off with both the crowd’s attention and amazement. More had had the chance to enjoy the Fest for All food trucks with not only tasty food on offer along with a number of drinks on offer to help down the food they’ve consumed.

Our sponsors DMAX had armed themselves to steal the show with their Volkswagen Kombie shuttle busses and their barber shop. Yes there was a barber shop at XLR8 where one could literally get a trim while they wait for the others to finish admiring the Movie Icons.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors Petronas, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, MyMotors, Kurnia Malaysia, DMAX and Falken Malaysia. Without your help XLR8 would not have pulled through.

Thank you to everybody who had made it all the way to Putrajaya to support us! We hope to see everybody next year!

Jerrica Leong