Tengku Djan takes Formula Drift Malaysia 2009 crown
It threatened to rain, but thankfully, it never poured. For the whole of yesterday, 12,000 spectators of the inaugural Goodyear Formula Drift Malaysia 2009 had to contend with dark clouds looming over their heads, with the occasional sprinklings of drizzles. Fortunately, the heavens held back their taps for the most part, allowing them to cheer local hero Tengku Djan of Team Bridgestone Malaysia to claim victory.
In the final tandem battle, Djan, piloting his Nissan 180SX, had to fend off Thai driver Sak Nana Kiki of Team PTT Thailand in a Nissan Silvia S15. It was a closely fought affair between the two, with the judges needing to call for a second run before ultimately awarding Djan the crown.
A much anticipated final battle between Djan and ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddet did not materialize as the latter went out at the semifinal stage to Kiki. During their encounter, tyre smoke from Kiki’s car obscured ‘Mad Mike’s’ vision, causing the New Zealander’s Mazda RX-7 to collide with Kiki, losing him the tie immediately. Mike did, however, claim third place ahead of Mervyn Nakamura of Team Federal, driving a Nissan Cefiro A31 in the 3rd/4th place play-off.
Action at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang, got well underway on Friday, as team crews set up their pit areas in anticipation of a grueling two days of competition. On Saturday, a total of 53 drivers went on to the specially designed figure-8 track for their practice and qualifying runs to earn their place in the Top 32 on Sunday, where drivers faced-off against each other in a knock-out battle. From there, the competition whittles down to the Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final 4, and, finally, the Big 2.
Notable drifters present at the event included Azrina Jane, of Team Goodyear Malaysia, the only participating female drifter of the event. Also on the field was a Proton Waja, but not one with a Mitsu 4G18 or a Campro engine, but instead, it was the famous Waja R3 RWD drifter powered by Nissan’s SR20DET engine. It was piloted by Rifat Sungkar of Goodyear Pertamina Indonesia.
Official online portal, Tyrepac, also had a strong presence at the event, being represented on the track by Ivan Lim and Ee Yoong Chern. Yoong exited the competition early on, having to face eventual champion Djan in the Sweet 16 round.
Formula Drift Malaysia is the culmination of a three-part Formula Drift Series in ASEAN, with the Formula Drift Singapore ProAm Series 2009 kicking things off in July, and followed by Formula Drift Thailand in November.
“Goodyear’s very first Formula Drift Malaysia was sizzling with red-hot action. It is certainly an honor to be part of this exhilarating event. Having such a number of international and local drivers competing only underscores our commitment to raise drifting standards to an international level,” said Richard Fleming, Managing Director, Goodyear ASEAN.
“There is also a high degree of synergy between drifting, a motorsport that places strong emphasis on advanced technology and precision driving and performance tires. Our ultra high performance tires put up a fantastic showing the last two days,” he added.
Organizing the event was ESPN Star Sports Management Group, who already has a track record of organizing regional sporting events, such as as the Standard Chartered Bank FIH Men’s Junior World Cup, KIA X Games Asia, the Guinness 9-Ball Tour, the KL World 5s, the Perak Eco Adventure Race and the Netball World Championships 2011.
“We are very pleased that the inaugural Goodyear Formula Drift Malaysia has been a huge success, following our equally successful Singapore event in July. The quality of the drivers competing here is certainly world class and the excellent crowd turnout has certainly set a new benchmark for the competition in the region. It is very encouraging to be a part of the continued advancement of the Malaysian motorsports scene, as well as a catalyst to spark the development of local talent,” said Harvey Davis, Vice-President, ESPN Star Sports Events Management Group.
For this event, Autoworld also had the pleasure of having a couple of enthusiastic contributors helping us in our coverage, namely Mr H.C. Gui and Mr Muaz Zakaria. We shall be featuring more of their editorial and photography work later on in the week.
Pictures: Kon & H.C. Gui
