Rain Fails to Dampen GRA Spirit – Round 2

Rain Fails to Dampen GRA Spirit – Round 2

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Shah Alam, 15 July 2007 – Torrential rainfall failed to dampen the spirits of the Grass Racing Autosports fans and supporters as 100 competitors took to the track at Shah Alam Stadium to compete against each other for top honours in the second round of the GRA Autocross Championships 2007 Series, supported by BFGoodrich, Meguiars’ and Redline.

Half the field was made up of newcomers, a total of 50 participants who took part in the morning session. Seven young ladies also took part in the ladies section, with Kylie Lee MF, emerging as the overall winner in this section. She also set the fastest time of the day for the ladies section in her Honda Civic.

Just before lunch break, a heavy downpour came down, and throughout the lunch break, it rained cats and dogs.

However, the rain failed to dampen the spirits of the ‘Pro Grass’ (seasoned) competitors who were scheduled for the afternoon session. After a quick ‘pow wow’ with Ian Khong, the Clerk of Course, it was unanimously agreed to carry on with the competition despite the track being very wet.

So it transpired that the two timed practice runs were carried out with an inch or so of water on the course. Some of the competitors were actually happy to be given a chance to drive on the course in the rain; many of them had never competed in rain before, and since conditions were equal for all, it only meant that the lap times would be just a little slower, and the fun would be the same.

In the wet, it was quite fun to watch the cars going into massive under steer, followed usually by equally massive over steer positions, and many cars went into complete spins. However, at no time was there any real danger, as there were plenty of run-off areas for the cars.

Even though there was heavy rain, there was no shortage of spectators, with most of them braving the rain with umbrellas to catch a glimpse of their favourite drivers. Fortunately, the rain slowed down to a drizzle, and most of the competitors were able to complete at least three timed runs.

Fastest time of the day was set by Ivan Khong in his familiar BFGoodrich sponsored Subaru Imprezza. The wet conditions gave Julian Pang an opportunity to close the gap between himself and Ivan, and his Proton Wira 1.6 finished a very credible and close second place on the podium.

As usual, AW was there to cover the event, and we share some of the action shots with you here. The results are not with us as yet; keep your eyes on this site for the results.

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