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GRA
Championship 2007 - Round 5
December 16, 2007
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Putrajaya, December 16th 2007 – Grass Racing Autosports Autocross Championships
made history in their final round for being the first ever
organizer to run a street autocross event. Main sponsors
BFGoodrich Tires made history today along with GRA for making it
possible for the final round of their championships in the heart
of Putrajaya.
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Ivan
Khong in his Subaru Impreza.
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| A total of 113 cars
competed in the final Round of the GRA Autocross
Championships. Sponsored by BFGoodrich Tires along with
partners Red Line Oil, Meguiar’s and Arospeed, it was a
day for Ivan Khong as he took 1st Overall for
Round 5 in Class OD and clinched the Overall Champion Title
as GRA’s first ever autocross champion. He won
convincingly in his red Subaru Impreza WRX
sponsored by BFGoodrich Tires.
The race in Putrajaya
was held in Precint 4. Starting behind the building of the
Ministry of National Youth and Sports, the cars can be heard
echoing through |
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the buildings as the fly past the Palace Of
Justice.It was a remarkable sight as no race has been held
on the streets for a long time since the days of the Penang
Island races.
Round
5 had the longest ever straight made for an autocross
layout, it was a better day for bigger powered cars. Said
Ian Khong, ‘ The roads in Putrajaya are very long and
wide. This is the one place where the competitors are going
to put their foot down! ‘. |
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Ian
Khong in his Ford Rally Car doing the Demo Run.
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Grass Class was held
in the morning session, which comprises of novice drivers.
In the Grass Class A ( up to 1300cc ), Kenneth Chiew
driving a Proton Wira Aeroback took 1st spot from 2nd
place Alven Lee in a Kelisa and Julian Foo in 3rd with
a Proton Satria. In the entire year, no other car other than the
Perodua Kelisas dominated this class, however Putrajaya proved
otherwise. In Class B (1301cc-1600cc), the fight for the top spots
were fiercely contested by two seasoned drivers in Autocrossing.
Daymen Lai and Ho Wai Hoe were battling in every run, with Ho
emerging as the winner with his final fastest run piloting his
Proton Wira 1.5s. Daymen Lai in his fast Honda CRX V-Tec, could
not find the extra half a second which pushed him to 2nd
place. 3rd spot went to Garick Goh, piloting a Proton
Wira 1.5s as well.
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Kenneth
Chiew, Class A & Class OA Champion for Round 5 2008.
Honda
Civic 1.6 driven by Ong Kian Hock aka HAWKE.
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In Class C,
(1601cc-2000cc), Jason Foo emerged 1st in a
Proton Satria GTi with Timothy Ketit in a Nissan Silvia (NA)
and Dennis Woo in a Proton Satria GTI coming in 2nd
and 3rd respectively. For Class D ( 2001cc-2500cc
), Ng Kim Ngee in a Toyota MRS emerged 1st with
Lau Chin Guan in a Toyota Elise and Damion Chee in a decked
out Arospeed Honda Accord taking 2nd and 3rd
spot respectively. |
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| In Class E ( 2501cc
& Above ), Ray Leong in his Nissan 200SX emerged 1st
with Mike driving a Subaru STi coming in 2nd and
Chiew Ruoh Peng in another Subaru Impreza in 3rd.
Mike and Chiew both using different cars this time
for the final round, could not find the seconds needed to
catch Ray. |
Charlen
Khoo in her 'dolphin' Kelisa.
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Mohd.
Zaki in action with his Perodua Viva SX, 989cc.
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 Edwin
Ang in a Lotus Elise 1800cc. |
 Timothy
Ketit competing in a Nissan Silvia S15, 2,000cc (NA). |
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Evie
GRA Ambassador.
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For the ‘Bling Bling
Award’ for having the nicest looking race car for the day,
went to Damoin Chee in his Honda Accord with AroSpeed
decals. The fastest lady of the day went to Charlene Khoo in
her ‘dolphin’ Kelisa.
In Class F which is
the Automatic Class ( up to 1600cc ), 1st spot
went to William Lim in a Suzuki Swift 1.5 with Charlene Khoo
claiming 2nd with Jason Saw in a Proton Waja
taking 3rd. Mervyn Hii and Valerie Atkinson both
piloting Toyotas in Class F had problems with their front
tire suffering a burst when they both climbed the curb on
the last sector of the course. Low Sim Chee in a Honda Civic
in Class B, left two long tires marks to the curbs as he
understeered trying to do the figure ‘8’ at the last
sector and suffered retirement with a bent arm. |
Andrea
Red Line Ambassador.
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Meguair's,
Red Line & GRA Ambassadors.
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| The Pro-Grass drivers
this time were going to run the similar course layout as the
novices in the afternoon. It was going to be an interesting
race, as the novice drivers were able to compare their times
against the Pro-drivers.
In Class OA ( Below
1300cc ), Kenneth Chiew in his Proton Aeroback emerged 1st
with Chan Yau Koon and Julian Pang from Team Red Line taking
2nd and 3rd spot respectively in their
Perodua Kelisa 1.0. In Class OB ( 1301cc-1600cc ), Jason Foo
emerged 1st in his Proton Satria Mivec, Galen Lai
and Christopher Chin coming in 2nd and 3rd
respectively in their Honda Civics. |
Ian
Khong & the Ambassdors.
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In Class OC (
1601cc-2000cc), Hammond Lai driving a Honda Civic took 1st
with Julian Pang’s Team Reline Proton Wira 1.8
and Gareth Tan in his Honda Civic taking 2nd
and 3rd respectively. In the Class OD ( Beyond
2000cc ), Ivan Khong in his Subaru Impreza took top spot
with Mickey Teoh in a Toyota MR2 Turbo coming in 2nd
and 3rd went to Andy Kow in another Subaru
Impreza.
Ivan Khong took top
honors in his class and also grabbed the first ever GRA
Autocross Championship Title by being the Overall GRA
Champion for 2007. In the Overall fight for the
Championships, Soo Seng Kuan was 2nd in the
Overall standings followed by 3rd Overall Mickey
Teoh. In Class OA, Chan Yau Koon from Team Red Line was the
Champion in his Perodua Kelisa. For Class OB, Galen Lai in a
Honda Civic was the Champion with his outstanding run for
the year. Class OC had a strong battle for the Champion
title, with Soo Seng Kuan claiming it with a good run in GRA Round 3 2007. |
GRA
Ambassador Evie & Red Line Ambasador Andrea. |
| In Class OD, Ivan
Khong was the Class Champion and took the Overall GRA
Champion Title as well. “The competition is now closer
than ever, it has been a great season of racing which I am
proud to be the overall winner of an event that is organized
by my brother,” said Ivan Khong. |
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| BFGoodrich Tires
representative Lim Gian Keong explains, “ It has been a
really good year for everyone in GRA as the sport is growing
very rapidly and we are now synonymous with the autocrossing
community “.
Howard Goh of Red Line
Oil explains, “ Our vision is to promote grassroots
motorsports and by being part of GRA, we are able to make
this possible ”.
Esther Lim from
Meguiar’s explains, “ We have always pushed motoring
community growth and GRA is a good platform for motorsports
enthusiasts “. |
Team
Red Line 04 Julian Pang.
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Jiannin Low, CEO of
GRA explains, “ When we first set out to do GRA two years
ago, it was a just spontaneous idea that has turned into a
really big event which we never imagined was possible. We
only have the sponsors and the community to thank, for being
part of a dream that turned into possibly the largest
grassroots motorsport event this country has ever seen. GRA
is a very small organization but has a very strong community
bond which we are honored to be part of “. |
Roland
Ooi, Nissan RX7.
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Raymond
Liew, Subrau Impreza 2,000cc Turbo.
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Mitch
Chong, Proton Satria 1,800cc.
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Michey
Teoh, Toyota MR2, 1998cc Turbo. 
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Chan
Yau Koon, Team Red Line Driver 01.
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Roland
Ooi, Mazda RX7, 1300cc Super Charge.
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Alex
Yeo, Proton Satria GTi 1,800cc. |
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Chiew Ruoh Peng,
Subaru Impreza 2,000cc Turbo. |
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Damion
Goh, Proton Satria 2,000cc Turbo. |
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Grass Racing
Autosports Autocrossing would be heading to have another
Championship in 2008, thus look for further details on their
website at www.grassracingautosports.com
~end~
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Celebration
of the Champions!!
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