Grass Racing Autosports Nationals Autocross Championships Round 4 – Moving into Round 5
It was a blistering Round 4 for the Grass Racing Autosports Nationals Autocross at the Sepang International Circuit Car Park. For a change, GRA used the other side of the car park instead of the usual PA3 car park area.
The ‘new’ circuit was interesting and provided a new challenge to the competitors as it had more straights and more braking from high to low speeds for the tight corners than usual – this was what separated the men from the boys. Spectators were treated to the sounds of high revving engines, heart-stopping braking maneuvers, and smoking tyres and red hot brake discs. For the competitors it was a question of who could get into high speed competition mode from the start line faster, as each run requires a super quick transition from idling at the start line into full acceleration and then into hard braking again, a process that is repeated many times on a typical circuit. It is an adrenaline-pumping sport that requires almost perfect co-ordination between man and machine.
The GRA Nationals Autocross Championships is sponsored by Mazda, Red Line Oil, Vanli Genuine Parts, Bardahl Malaysia, Ghee Hiang Teelseed Oil, Arospeed, Heritage Village, Motorsports Playground, Euroscale, drivingMotion.com, PG Perma Glass, WhiteLine, and Gophers GPS for the 2013 season. It is undoubtedly expensive to organize an event run at the scale that GRA is run at the moment, and it is the sponsors that help to make the GRA Championships possible. GRA’s ambassador Ian Khong said, ‘ GRA is about making motorsports affordable, and enhancing spirited driving into a competition. The competition level in GRA is very intense, and being a sanctioned event by Motorsports Association of Malaysia, we try to keep a balance between speed, safety and fun ‘ .
Ivan Khong from Team Red Line Arospeed in his Subaru Impreza managed a 3rd Overall in this round with Terence Soh in his Mitsubishi Evolution X taking 2nd Overall. Terence took 1st in the Open Class ( Beyond 2500cc ) with Ivan a very close 2nd behind him. On a happy note for Terence, this is the first instance that he has managed to deny Ivan his usual 1st in Class, with a split time difference over 3 cumulative runs of only 0.221 seconds. It was a hard fight between the two, as both drivers are experienced hands in autocrossing. On one of the runs, Ivan suffered a fuel surge problem on a tight turn, costing him a couple of precious seconds.
Mitch Chong took 1st Overall with his super lightened Proton Satria. As usual, Bardahl Additives was there to back Andy Kow in his Subaru Impreza and he took 7th in Class OD as he struggled with a newly built engine which he had no time to run in, and Andy was actually trying to ‘nurse’ it through the course with a self-imposed rev limit. A similar case was Daniel Loh, (second generation driver, the son of veteran rally and race driver Stephen Loh who was a top driver in the seventies to the nineties) who was also running in his rebuilt Subaru engine. It was actually quite amusing watching Daniel Loh trying to go as fast as possible while keeping the engine revs below 4,000 rpm. I would have expected that he would have taken his Subaru out for a run to Penang and back before the event to do the running in.
Bardahl’s involvement includes supporting all the GRA drivers with their famous B1 Engine Oil Additive in each round. Mr. Lee, Managing Director along with Mr. Leong, General Manager of Cycar Parts and Accessories have faithfully been present during each round along with the Bardahl team to support and provide assistance to all the participants. Known for their ‘No Oil Run’ feat in the 90’s during which two Bardahl-treated cars travelled more than a thousand kilometres with no oil in the crankcase, they are in GRA to enhance their brand presence.
Bermaz Motors Sdn. Bhd. the sole importers and distributors of Mazda vehicles in Malaysia had both their Mazda 6 Sedan and Touring Wagon on display. Powered by their iconic Zoom-zoom tagline, the Mazda 6 did the safety laps to check the course layout with Ian behind the wheel. Mazda’s commitment into creating fun-to-drive cars is reflected in their presence in GRA. As an added incentive to Mazda owners, there is a Mazda award for the best performing Mazda at every round. This round, the Mazda award went to Christopher Chong in his Team Red Line Mazda Miata. Christopher did very well in the previous round with a 3rd Overall placing, and this time he managed a 6th in Class OD, in the only normally aspirated rear wheel drive car in a field dominated by turbo charged cars. This is a commendable achievement for a well balanced car in the hands of a good driver. Christopher also won the Fastest RWD NA trophy.
In Class OD Novice, Steve Kok in his Mazda Miata from Team Gophers took top spot from Daniel Loh in his Team Vanli Subaru who finished second, and Simon Oh in his Whiteline Subaru Forester in 3rd respectively. It was a good day for the Mazdas.
The latest partner of GRA in 2013 is Penang’s famous ‘tau sar pneah ‘ biscuit company Ghee Hiang. Karen Puah, Brand Manager of the Ghee Hiang company brought freshly baked biscuits for some of the competitors that pre-ordered prior to the event day. As a result of its participation, the Ghee Hiang brand is now well-known amongst the people in the motorsports fraternity. Ghee Hiang’s very own Subaru Impreza was on display at the event, and it should be headed back to Penang soon for display at their famous shop at 216 Mcalister Road. The champion of GRA this year would definitely be getting Ghee Hiang biscuits as part of the prize!
In Class OB ( 1501cc-1600cc ) the battle was between the two buddies, Ray Leong and Charlie Ling sharing the same car, (GRA allows two participants to share a car) a thirty year old Toyota Starlet, that is surprisingly fast despite its age. Ray came out tops with Charlie in second. Ahmad Tabeh took third place. For the Class OC ( 1601cc – 2000cc ), Mitch Chong took 1st in class with Aaric Ooi and Ken Erai following closely behind in 2nd and 3rd.
In the production class which caters to the Novice drivers and stock cars, Abdul Halim in his Perodua Myvi took 1st in class with Jonathan Lim in his Proton Saga shared with Hafiz Isa taking 2nd and 3rd. It was a very close battle with the two drivers who exchanging fastest times in the runs. In the end it was Abdul Halim who took the win by only fractions of a second. Abdul Halim is a true motorsport enthusiast – he travelled from Terengganu on the same morning to compete in GRA along with Sharina Ramlie, who won the award for the fastest female of the day.
GRA moves into the final Round 5, and based on the current standings, the championship is still open for any of the top contenders to take. Moving into its 8th year, the GRA is the longest running grassroots event that is sanctioned and endorsed by the MAM. This series is highly affordable and runs timing sensors that are accurate to 1/100th of a second, which could be the difference between first and second.
As usual, the GRA race queens are always present to add colour and glamour to each and every event. Spectators get to watch GRA for free – for more information of this exciting race event do log onto www.grassracingautosports.com . Any driver with a valid driving license and a spirit of motorsports may enter.
Photos by iK & Alex Yeo
