Grass Racing Autocross 05/06 Round 1 at KLCC
Grass Racing Autocross 05/06 Round 1
The open car park next to the world famous landmark of Kuala Lumpur, the KLCC Twin Towers, reverberated with the sound of screaming engines, screeching tires, and clashing transmissions as more than ninety cars and drivers pitted themselves against the clock to see who would be the fastest around the short course laid out with cones in the first auto gymkhana organised by Grass Racing Autosports.
Sponsored by BFGoodrich Tires, the event was a roaring success, on account of the record number of entries and the smooth execution of the event by this young team of motorsport enthusiasts. The idea of running an ‘entry level’ event for young and up-and-coming race drivers was born at a teh tarik session, and from a suggestion, it grew and grew into fruition with the first ever event being organised recently.
BFGoodrich must be lauded for making it all possible with their support, without which the event would have cost an arm and a leg to enter. There really is no avenue for youngsters to find out for themselves whether they have it in them to be successful in motorsport, and these type of events cost almost nothing to enter. To encourage more people to participate, the organisers kept the entry fee low at RM60.00 per head. The event is open to all cars, and it does not matter if you have a small capacity car or a muscle car, because cars are classified according to capacity.
“BFGoodrich Tires began its involvement in grassroots motorsports in Malaysia in 2004 with the sponsorship of the Asian Motorsports Festival. As a brand, it has the strong heritage of bringing racing to the masses. BFGoodrich Tires were the first to use the same tires sold to consumers for competition, and this has been a winning formula,” said Ronald Sutardja, General Manager of Michelin Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
“With the sponsorship, we plan to use the activities as a platform to continue reaching out to the grassroots motorsports fans here. We aim for the BFGoodrich Tires brand to become synonymous with grassroots motorsports in Malaysia,” he added.
Scrutineering was done the previous day, and competitors came to the track as early as 6.30 am to get ready for the first practice and heats that started at 8.00 am. All competitors were given practice runs before the heats started at around 10.00 am. The winners were classified according to their best time out of three runs.
In Class A, for cars below 1300 class, young Andy Kow, who came all the way from Penang, clocked a very fast time of 42.35 seconds to win first in class. He also took the Novice prize with his beautiful run. Second in class went to Chan Yau Koon with 42.47 seconds, a mere fraction of a second away. Third in this class went to Faisal Asri. A total of 21 entries took part in this class.
In Class B, for cars from 1301 to 1600cc, Julian Pang, also from Penang, drove in his usual flawless form, and walked away with top of the class honours with his best time of 41.28 seconds, beating Soo Sing Kuan by almost a second. Third place went to WK Ho with a time of 42.97. In this hotly contested class, the special Novice prize went to Mohd Zulhari with a time of 43.44 seconds.
Class C honours, for cars from 1601 to 1900 cc, Julian Pang again took top honours, entering his 1600 cc Proton in the higher class. He clocked a fastest time of 39.13 seconds. Second place went to Vernon Chan in a Satria R3, clocking a fastest time of 41.87 seconds. Vernon also won the Novice prize for this category.
Julian Pang again entered his car in the next category, Class D for cars from 1901 to 2400 cc, and won it too, clocking a best time of 41.31 seconds to beat Yogaretnam’s 44.63 seconds. Third place went to Damien Goh Ling Fong with a best time of 44.72 seconds.
In the open class, Austin Teng clocked 39.28 seconds to take top honours, followed by Dominic Ang with 40.56 seconds. Veteran Marcus Chye won third place with 40.85 seconds in his Lotus Elise. Ivan Khong had to be content with fourth place, clocking 40.97 seconds.
In the Sports Car class, Marcus Chye dominated with 38.51 seconds, which was also the fastest time of the day, followed by Dominic Ang with 39.97 seconds. Third place went to Austin Teng who clocked 40.12 seconds. The Novice prize went to Johnson Tan Soo Lim, who clocked 44.88 seconds.
During the breaks in the competition, lucky draws for BFGoodrich goody bags were held. Members of the public were encouraged to submit their names to qualify for the lucky draws. Some of the lucky draw winners were also treated to ‘taxi’ rides with veteran rally and autocross drivers Ivan Khong and Mickey Teoh. Ronald Sutardja also went for a ride, and he was asked to carry a cordless microphone into the car with him. The crowd was greatly amused by his screams and protests as Ivan threw his Subaru Imprezza around the track, sliding and drifting, and tyres smoking most of the way.
Even mother nature was kind; the sky was overcast the whole day, making it a pleasant outing for everybody, and just as prize presentation was at an end, the clouds burst, and the rain came down in buckets.
From the faces of the competitors and the enthusiasm of the thousands of people who stopped to watch the proceedings, it was a great success, and we hope to see more of such events in the future. The next event is scheduled for 15 January, and I understand that the venue remains the same. Make a date for that day at the KLCC car park.
