GRA Revs into the 2013 Season With Opening Round in Shah Alam
Petaling Jaya 21th June 2013 – Grass Racing Autosports or commonly known as GRA ran Round 1 of their autocross series on a blistering hot day in Shah Alam Stadium. The GRA 2013 season, a motorsport series sanctioned by Motorsports Association of Malaysia (MAM) continues with a host of new sponsors in addition to its regular sponsors; Red Line Oil, Vanli Genuine Parts, Mazda, Bardahl, PG Perma Glass, Arospeed, Gophers GPS, Ghee Hiang, Whiteline, Motorsports Playground, Heritage Village, Euroscale, MovieMotion
Started in 2005, it is encouraging to see the series is growing – motorsport requires sponsorship for sustainability, and the additional sponsorships will help to keep the series affordable for grassroots motorsport fans. GRA remains the longest running sanctioned autocross/gymkhana series to date with the largest following.
Bermaz Motors Sdn Bhd the distributors and importers of Mazda vehicles in Malaysia had the Mazda 3 MPS doing the safety laps around the course before the drivers took centre stage. Decked in the livery of its iconic Zoom-Zoom branding, the car looked good even standing still. This year promises to be more colourful with the Mazda 6, Mazda BT50, and Mazda 3 following GRA’s entire autocross/gymkhana season. Ms. Lee Ai Hoon General Manager for Mazda said, ‘We will put our cars on display for interested buyers, but most importantly we are supporting the community in their passion for driving’. In addition, Mazda will be giving an award for the ‘Fastest Mazda of the Day”. Round 1 honours for this award went to Christopher Chong from Team Red Line in a Mazda Miata MX5.
Another equally interesting new sponsor is Ghee Hiang, a local company from Penang that makes the famous ‘Ghee Hiang’ ‘tau sah pneah’ and the equally famous Ghee Hiang Teelseed oil. Mr. ST Ooi, a director of the company is a keen motorsport fan who has been following the GRA Autocross Series for a long time.
First Overall went to Ken Erai with Dixon Khoo in the TRW Whiteline Subaru Impreza taking 2nd with Andy Kow in the Bardahl Subaru Impreza taking 3rd. Although Andy had the fastest time of the day (FTD), he failed to take first place due to penalties from knocking down a single cone. The race was so close that this relegated Andy down to third place based on cumulative time. Dixon Khoo drove a clean race to garner valuable points for the championship.
Red Line’s driver Ivan Khong was away on work duties and it was left to Christopher Chong to carry the Red Line flag; he managed a 9th Overall and 4th in OD ( Beyond 2000cc ) Class.
Ian Khong, ambassador for GRA took out the Ghee Hiang Teelseed Oil Subaru Impreza for a shake down run during the event. Ian will be competing in various events this year in the same car. With much to sort out before it hits the actual motorsports scene, Ms. Karen Puah, Brand Manager said, ‘Ghee Hiang is proud to have Ian to be piloting our car, we are here to make an impression and to get to know the GRA community better’.
In Class OA ( up to 1500cc ), Deon Yeang from Penang took 1st in Class with Hari Haran and Ronghaur Soon both in a Suzuki Swifts taking 2nd and 3rd respectively. Hari, new to GRA, had a small argument with a kerb that bent his suspension and ended his runs for the day. For Class OB ( 1501cc-1600cc ), 1st went to Ray Leong in his Toyota Starlet with Ahmad Tabeh and Charlie Ling taking 2nd and 3rd respectively. Ray drove very impressively throughout his runs for the day, posting some fast times to put some pressure onto the overall runners. With a new gearbox in place, Ray and Charlie will be watched closely by other drivers this season after posting some quick timed runs.
Mr. Lee Chee Keong, Managing Director for Cycar Parts and Accessories Sdn Bhd, the importers and distributors of Bardahl automotive products from USA for the Malaysian market said, ‘ We are happy with our debut in the GRA series. We look forward to expanding our reach within the GRA community’. Andy Kow in the Bardahl Subaru Impreza started off as car No.1 which made Bardahl’s debut historic.
Vanli Genuine Parts had Daniel Loh’s Subaru Impreza in its livery for the 2013 season. Daniel in his second year with GRA was impressive for the first part of the day, posting FTD for the first timed run. However his car suffered a mechanical failure in the heat, and he had to retire after 5 runs. Mr. C.K. Lim, Managing Director for Vanli said, ‘We would be having more promotions on our genuine parts in conjunction with GRA, hence we will provide a wider range of products for the drivers’. Daniel managed to get 1st in the Open Class OD Novice despite his set back.
New partners Whiteline from Australia, manufacturs and developer of chassis tuning products for cars had Simon Oh’s Subaru Forester carrying its colours. Racing in his daily driven Subaru Forester, it was interesting to see the South East Asian distributor for Whiteline taking the competition into his own hands. He finished 5th in the Class OD Novice, and we will be seeing more of his Forester in action.
For the Class OC (1601cc – 2000cc), 1st in Class went to Ken Erai with Mitch Chong and Kenny Kuan in 2nd and 3rd respectively. It was a clean run by Ken as his times were consistently quick, making him ‘uncatchable’ in his class. In the Open Class OD, Dixon Khoo took 1st with Andy Kow in 2nd and Mickey Teoh in 3rd. It was a tough battle for the bigger cars as the course had lots of oil in the open area of the car park that made it harder for the more powerful cars to put down the power.
Ian Khong ambassador for GRA said, ‘Anyone who has a valid driver’s license and spirit of motorsports is able to join GRA. We aim to keep racing off the streets and wish to keep motorsports achievable by ensuring the races are sanctioned. If a person wishes to see their skills in driving, GRA is a good avenue for any budding race driver!’
GRA’s series contains 5 rounds with a championship. Autocrossing is a time trial event held in large open areas that are lined up with cones to mark a course. Fastest time of the day wins, and GRA splits up the engine capacity of competing cars to equalise the difference in power. The next event would be on 30th June, for more details of this exciting series do log onto www.grassracingautosports.com.
