GRA gets going for 2010 season

The increasingly popular Grass Racing Autocross championship got its 2010 season underway on 2 May 2010, having attracted the participation of 67 drivers for the season’s first race at the Metro Driving Academy grounds in Puchong. Out of the aforementioned 67, 22 competed in the Grass class event in the morning while the remaining 45 battled it out in Pro Grass Class later in the afternoon.

The outcome of the opening round will leave reigning Pro Grass champion Andy Kow with plenty to think about ahead of the remaining four races of the season. Although Andy drove a generally faultless race, his competitors Marcus Chye and Ee Yoong Chern have upped the ante by drawing first blood, pushing him to settle for a third-placed finish for the opening race.

Marcus Chye & Ee Yoong Chern…

Andy Kow will be having his hands full this season against those two.

In Grass class, William Lim picked up where he left off last season, edging out Fred Foong, Imam Tuah, and Adams Marcos. GRA races are race against the clock affair, and the Grass class drivers were given a total of six timed runs each, with the fastest time used to rank them for the day. The top four grass drivers, all driving automatic transmission vehicles (Grass Class AA) were separated by just a second between them. First-placed William clocked 1:16.806, while fourth-placed Imam Tuah registered 1:17.795.

Grass drivers were further seperated to three different categories – Grass Class A, Grass Class B, and Grass Class AA. Competitors of Grass Class A raced in small cars, and while they don’t pack the horsepowers of the turbocharged Pro Grass cars, they cannot be underestimated on the grounds of their nimbleness and agility. Winning this class was Syafiq Amsyar, piloting a white Proton Saga BLM, clocking 1:20.697. Second place went to Lim Chee Siong in a Proton Iswara 1.3, while third place was taken by GRA newcomer Ksaven with a Toyota Starlet – showing that you don’t need spanking new cars to excel in GRA.

Grass Class A: 1st – Syafiq Amsyar, 2nd – Lim Chee Siong, 3rd – Ksaven

Grass Class B was the battleground of mainly 1.6-litre cars, although Loh Tat Wing looked to punch above his weight with a Proton Iswara 1.5. Out of seven competitors in this category, Tat Wing finished fifth. Winning the category, however, was Sean Siew driving a Toyota Corolla AE111. Sean’s time of 1:18.148 was just 0.031 seconds ahead of second-placed Jarryd Tan driving a Proton Satria Neo CPS. Following close behind Jarryd was Hafis Syukor driving another Satria Neo.

Grass Class B: 1st – Sean Siew, 2nd – Jarryd Tan, 3rd – Hafis Syukor

The top four places of Grass Class AA was essentially the entire Grass Class top four. This class, which holds all automatic transmission cars, have generally been dominant in Grass Class. The aforementioned William Lim’s Suzuki Swift 1.5(A) as quickly cemented a legendary status, while Fred Foong continues to show that the much-maligned Proton Wira 1.5(A) still has plenty to offer.

William Lim & Fred Foong – champions of automatic transmission

In the afternoon, the more advanced Pro-Grass Class drivers strut their stuff. Pro-Grass drivers are divided into four classes – Pro-Grass Class OA, Pro-Grass Class OB, Pro-Grass Class OC, and Pro-Grass Class OD. Like the Grass drivers before them, the Pro-Grass drivers were also given six timed runs, but they were ranked based on the cumulative times of their two best runs.

Making a winning return after a brief hiatus was Marcus Chye, who finished first in a Lotus Elise, clocking 3:26.374. Marcus’ fastest time of the day was 1:08.394, over two seconds faster than the next best fastest time of the day clocked by Andy Kow, who managed 1:10.714 in his Subaru Impreza WRX. Unfortunately for Andy, however, that was only good enough for him to take third place. Ee Yoong Chern, of Formula Drift fame, took second spot with his Nissan Silvia S13, with a cumulative time of 3:33.336 ahead of Andy’s 3:33.711. Mickey Teoh in a Toyota MRS took fourth place to complete a Pro Grass Class OD stranglehold on the top four places.

Mickey Teoh’s Toyota MRS

After clinching victory in Grass class earlier in the morning, William Lim returned in his much-feared Suzuki Swift to compete in Pro-Grass as well, emerging victorious amongst Pro-Grass OA competitors with a cumulative time of 3:44.061. Taking second place in the class was Kenneth Chiew in a Proton Wira Aeroback 1.3, clocking 3:48.590. The same Wira also took third place but in the hands of Alven Lee, who clocked 3:51.844.

This Wira powered both Kenneth Chiew and Alven Lee to Pro Grass Class OA podium finishes

Podium places of Pro-Grass Class OB were dominated by a trio of Toyotas. Charlie Ling’s Toyota AE86 took first place with a cumulative time of 3:45.288, over six seconds ahead of Nigel Chye, who recorded 3:51.564 with his Toyota Trueno. Taking the last podium spot was Leon Tan, whose Toyota Corolla KE70 did a respectable 3:53.091.

Pro Grass Class OB: 1st – Charlie Ling, 2nd – Nigel Chye, 3rd – Leon Tan

Pro-Grass Class OC was almost an exclusive playground of 1.8-litre Protons, with Chu Poh Kin’s Toyota Altezza the only exception. Winning this category was Julian Pang, renown for his neat handbrake turns in his Proton Wira 1.8 clocking 3:43.383. Taking second place was Sia Chee Bin, whose Satria Neo sports a transplanted Mitsubishi 4G93 powerplant, with a time of 3:48.905. Third place went to Nicholas Teh, who rcorded 3:50.853 in his Proton Putra.

Pro Grass Class OC: 1st – Julian Pang, 2nd – Sia Chee Bin, 3rd – Nicholas Teh

KON