GRA Nationals Autocross Championships Round 3, 2012
Sepang, October – Grass Racing Autosports or commonly known as GRA ran Round 3 of their autocross / gymkhana at the F1 Sepang Circuit car park. Backed by the event partners of Red Line Synthetic Oil, Vanli Genuine Parts, Meguiar’s, PG Perma Glass, Gophers and Maxxis Tires, the event was held on a scorching Sunday, despite the weather having continuous torrential rain in the weeks leading to the event.
Top honour of the day went to Marcus Chye from Team Lotus as he took 1st Overall, narrowly beating early leader Ivan Khong from Team Red Line in his Subaru Impreza by a mere 0.549 seconds, possibly the closest finish in the history of GRA.
Ivan blazed through the first timed run of the day with a time of 2m16s.970, to take an early lead with Marcus Chye fractions of a second behind. After five timed runs, Marcus managed to just pip Ivan by a half a second to win.
The close competition was a test of GRA’s special timing apparatus, which is able to record lap times down to three decimal points (1/1000 of a second).
Ian Khong, ambassador for GRA said, ‘Our system runs the accuracy to 1/1000 second and this is the separator between the boys and the men!’ Mitch Chong in his tricked out Proton Satria managed to clinch 3rd Overall.
Mr. Howard Goh from Team Red Line said, ‘Ivan’s car is a fine example of what we strive for which is to push our products to the limit, and the oils in his car do just that!’ The race had Team Maxxis driver Andy Kow in his Subaru Imprezza taking 3rd in Class OD ( beyond 2200cc ).
The Sepang Circuit car park features the longest straights in the series, and Ee Yoong Cherng used this to the full with his V8 powered Nissan Skyline, in a close fight with Andy Kow in his Subaru Imprezza for podium in Class OD. Andy just narrowly managed to take the final podium in that class.
The battle for Class OA ( up to 1500cc ) was wide open as defending Champion of 2011 William Lim from Team Vanli could not make it to the start of the race due to problems the night before. Mohammed Azman took 1st in Class OA, and has possibly sealed his championship title for 2012 with the absence of William.
Class OB ( 1501cc – 1600cc ) had the biggest battle in Round 3, with four drivers chasing for the podium places. Eventually Aaric Ooi took first position in his Proton Waja MIVEC, followed by Perma Glass driver CB Sia in his Proton Satria Neo MIVEC taking 2nd, and Charlie Ling in his drivingMotion.com Toyota Levin AE86 taking 3rd. Ray Leong in his Red Line Toyota Starlet managed a 4th in Class OB in his 32 year old (1980) car.
Vanli Genuine Parts Mr. Lim said, ‘GRA is a good testing ground for driver’s to put their vehicle parts through its integrity test!’ At GRA competitions, the drivers need to turn on all that they have from a standing start to full blast in an instant – it is not only a test of each driver’s mettle, but the metal of the parts as well. A well-known driver quipped, “In GRA, the competition is very fierce, and you can get from Zero to Hero, or Hero to Zero”
Victor Lim from Team Meguiar’s with his Mitsubishi Evolution 7 managed to clinch 10th in Class OD. Another driver pushing the limits was Terence Soh in his Mitsubishi Evolution X, who managed to stay in 7th position just ahead of drifters Ariff Johanis and Mervyn Nakamura. Both drifters kept the crowd entertained by their skilful sliding around the kerbs and cones.
The next exciting round of the GRA Nationals Autocross Championships will be held on Sunday 4th November 2012 at the Shah Alam Stadium Car Park. As usual, the Race Queens/Brand Ambassadors will be there.
Editor’s note: GRA is sanctioned by Motorsports Association of Malaysia and is the only licensed autocross/gymkhana event currently. For more details of this series do log onto www.grassracingautosports.com or email GRA at grassracingautosports@yahoo.com .
