Kia Gear Up: Day 2 - Breakfast & In-Class Training Session

After spending the first day touring around the city of Barcelona as well as meeting other Kia Global Ambassadors for the first time, it was time for all of us to be ready for this BIG day, the “Challenge Course on the Castelloli Circuit“. I was super stoked for this event because I really want to experience what it’s like to drive on a real race track with a race car. Vroom! Vroom!

Before we hopped on the tour bus, I decided to wake up earlier than expected so I could try the breakfast at the Grand Central Hotel (the hotel we all stayed for this Kia Gear Up campaign). The restaurant that served the breakfast buffet was located at the basement level. It was chic, modern and clean. Andrew, the Kia Social Manager woke up early as well and accompanied me to have our breakfast.

The moment we sat down, a friendly staff came over and welcomed us. Right away, she poured coffee into our mug. She told us to feel free to go to the buffet section and self-serve the food we would like to eat. Lots of goodies at the stations. There were fresh croissants and other pastries. Cheese and a variety of cold cuts. My favourite sunny side up eggs, sausages, bacon and freash toasts. Fruits, cereal, a large list of fresh squeezed juices were all available for us. It was truly impressive!

After the quick breakfast, we went to the entrance and hopped onto the tour bus. As we got used to it by now that there were a large teams of camera crew filming us and snapping photos of us on the bus. After about an hour of bus ride, we had finally arrived at the Castelloli Circuit. This is a legit circuit that hosted many professional motorcycles and race cars events. The weather was nice with cool breeze and dry road conditions, perfect for the Kia Gear Up Challenge Course!

As we walked into the building, there was a Kia Gear Up signage and a lounge that had chairs, sofas, energy drinks, coffee stations and snacks for us. But before we could start driving different vehicles, the Kia team brought all of us into a classroom. To them, our safety is their #1 priority. So, the Kia team had a number of professional drivers and instructors informing us the layout of the Castelloli circuit, what angle or tight turn to be alert for. Also, they told us what happened if something really happen on the track, so we are not clueless or panic but being informed the safety procedures. They also showcased the type of safety features equipped on each Kia vehicles so we know the engineering and the design involved to protect every passenger. The instructor also introduced the executives who were in attendance who had assisted us and planned this entire Kia Gear Up campaign.

By this time, we had signed our life away, which was our waiver form, indicating that we should put safety as priority and that we should be responsible of our behaviour on the race track. Now, all the administrative work were completed, it was time for us to step outside to the parking lot and check out some live demos on the features in some of the Kia vehicles. Some basic drills on how to change a flat tire, check for oil or windshield fluid as well as where all the tools were located in the Kia vehicles. To the Kia team, it does not matter what brand of vehicles we actually drive, we should all know the basic drills of maintaining and learned more about the structure of a vehicle.