Ivan Clinches GRA Autocross Championship 2007 Title
Kuala Lumpur, 22 December 2007 – It was a hard fought battle, but rewarding enough in the end for Ivan Khong, who won the overall championship by a narrow two point gap to Soo Sing Kuan. Third place honours went to Mickey Teoh.
A jubilant Ivan Khong went up on stage at the GRA Annual Championship dinner at Mont Kiara last night to receive a huge trophy for his big win from the organizers, Jian Nin, CEO of Grassracing Autosports Sdn Bhd, the promoters of the GRA Autocross Championships.
In the final round of the GRA Autocross championship round held in Putrajaya on a much longer circuit, Ivan, driving a Subaru Impreza, struggled without a handbrake, but managed to come home second overall in the Pro Class, losing by 0.02 of a second to Hammond Lai in a 2 liter Civic.
The round in Putrajaya saw more than a hundred entries both in the Grass Class for beginners and the Pro Grass class for the seasoned players. The Putrajaya office complex reverberated to the sounds of hot exhausts, screeching tyres and burning brakes as the competitors put on their best efforts to clock the fastest time around the 1.8 kilometre circuit.
The event also saw some veterans such as Roland Ooi and Russell Palmer, whose total ages added up to more than a century. Roland and Russell shared a bright yellow RX7, and both of them put up a pretty good show for the public.
The event also saw Peter Hansen, the head of MAM, take part with Oh Kah Beng, another veteran, sharing a Lotus Elise.
The GRA Autocross series certainly has come a long way since its inception two years ago. A total of five events were held this year, and each of the events has been well subscribed, receiving between 80 to one hundred entries each time.
According to Jian Nin, the GRA Autocross championships will cover more events next year, and there is talk of going to other cities in Malaysia.
