The real allure of a car festival is all the moving parts. Static cars allow you to soak up their finer details, but live action brings sound, smell and speed into the equation.

SpeedFest 2024, held at KL Base in the heart of Malaysia’s capital city of Kuala Lumpur brought all of this to the table. I’ve already covered the show side of the event inside the giant hangar at this decommissioned military base; now it’s time to head outside and soak up some Malaysian motorsport.

Because the live action was happening all weekend, I spent Saturday hanging out around the drift arena and Sunday documenting and enjoying the drag racing.

The drifting was non-competitive, but that didn’t stop the local drivers from going ten-tenths on the makeshift track. Sessions alternated between exhibition runs and learn-to-drift exercises, allowing the public to slide behind the wheel and pick up some basic techniques.

An E92 BMW M3 caught my eye, and after chatting with local racing legend Zen Low about his ‘drift taxi’, he offered to take me out for a few laps.

As it turned out, Zen is a GT3 racer who has competed all over the world, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. He built the 700hp M3 monster during the pandemic lockdowns when overseas travel was impossible. As expected, Zen’s driving was smooth and precise.

Sunday’s straight-line action on KL Base’s closed runway was more serious than the fun vibes experienced elsewhere across the festival. It was also really hot out there. I spent too much time in the sun, but it was worth it.

The drag faithful braved the elements to squeeze as much performance from their Malaysian-built Protons, Japanese Civics, and diesel utes as possible. A few R35 GT-Rs and BMWs also ran the quarter mile.

Walking the staging lanes and pits was a treat. Maybe it’s my Australian heritage, but I love a good ‘do it yourself’ job. You can learn a lot by watching how different people tackle similar problems and seeing the work they put into a project.

The drag racing itself was far removed from the big-dollar spectacle I’m used to seeing back home, but that didn’t make it any less impressive. A few cars were running in the 9-second zone, and one even hit a high 8 on the unprepped surface.

So, did the SpeedFest team realise their lofty dreams with their first event? Was this the largest Japanese car gathering outside of Japan? Well, if there’s been a bigger one, I’d like to see it!

Hopefully, the city’s notorious red tape slows the KL Base redevelopment process, meaning the SpeedFest team could possibly have another crack at running their event here. Despite being designed for aircraft, SpeedFest transformed it into a petrolhead’s paradise.

If the event lacked anything, it was cars from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. If these vehicles are hiding in Malaysian collections, the SpeedFest team should uncover them and bring them out for the public to enjoy at the next event. It really would be fantastic to see what this celebration of cars and culture could evolve into.

In the meantime, there are lots more images from SpeedFest 2024 for you to check out below.

Matthew Everingham
Instagram: matthew_everingham
matt@mattheweveringham.com