Proton GTI Championships 2003

IZ Motorsports decided to again participate in this year’s Proton Gti Championships to defend its title. Rounds 1 & 2 of the Gti championships were held over the weekend and conditions were ideal for this particular race. Based on the practice times, the championships (at this stage) appears to be between Tommy Lee and Fadzil Alang (runner up in last year’s Gti Championships).

Qualifying – 7th June 2003

Conditions were ideal during the qualifying session. However, Tommy Lee was not able to set as fast a time as he did during the practice session (2’48.5s) partly because of a slightly different set-up in the car. Based on Tommy’s qualifying time of 2.49.2s, he could only manage 3rd on the grid, behind Johor driver, Tan Chaw Loon (2’49.1s) and pole setter, Fadzil Alang (2.48.4s). Based on the times of the 3 driver, some close racing was in store.

Round 1 – 8th June 2003

The Gti race was the first of a series of events among which included the Asian Touring Car Race, the Porsche Carrera Cup Race, the Formula BMW Race and the Proton Production Car Race. The race started at 9 am.

As usual, Tommy made a fantastic start, turning the corner in 2nd place, behind Fadzil Alang. Over the next 2 laps, the drivers distanced themselves from the rest of the field and that’s when things got interesting. There were several lead changes between Tommy and Fadzil Alang, the latter having a slight edge on the straights while the former had better entry speed into the corners. Racing between the 2 cars was extremely close and at time the cars touched – providing a lot of excitement for the spectators. Tommy Lee had to concede the lead in the closing stages of the race after the 2 cars touched. Fadzil Alang won the race with the slightest of margins. In third place was Johor driver, Tan Chaw Loon.

Round 2 – 8th June 2003

The finishing position in Round 1 determined the starting grid for Round 2. Tommy Lee started from 2nd position. When the lights turned green, Tommy was again on the back of Fadzil Alang. Again, by the second lap, the 2 cars pulled away from the rest of the pack. Tommy played a waiting game in this race, following Fadzil Alang till about lap 5 of the 8 lap race. Again using his better entry speed into corners, Tommy took the inside line on turn 1 and managed to pip Fadzil Alang for the lead. The 2 drivers continued to battle it out for the rest of the race and it was again Fadzil Alang that managed to regain the lead and win the race. Tommy was second and in 3rd place was a newcomer to the Gti Championships, JP Chin.

The 2 drivers will again be dueling it out in the next race which will be held in Pasir Gudang, Johor – a narrow track – toward the end of this month. Watch out for more exciting and closer racing.