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GRA
2007 Round 1 June 12, 2007 |
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unrated, unedited
by vernon
chan aka
crash 
click me
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It was a long time coming.
After 'staying tuned' for more than half a year, Grass Racing
Autocross (GRA) 2007 Championship Round 1 finally saw light of day,
thanks to dedication and hardwork of organisers Ian Khong and Jian
Nin with the support of sponsors BF Goodrich, Redline and Mequiar's.
This was a welcome (albeit late) kick-start to the motorsports
calendar year, having experienced a dearth of grassroots motorsports
events. For over 90 enthusiastic autocrossers comprising novices and
pro-level drivers, this was certainly the avenue to release all that
pent-up petrolhead energy.
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The
familiar Shah Alam Stadium car park bustled with activity as
early as 7am. With new tire regulations, guidelines and a
Championship format, which included separate classes for
novices (Grass Class) and pro drivers (Pro-Grass Class) as
well as a special category for automatic/tiptronic
transmission vehicles, GRA Round 1 promised plenty of thrills,
spills and tire-smoking competition!
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Peter
Hansen, CEO of the recently established Motorsports Association of
Malaysia (MAM), the new governing body for motorsports in
Malaysia
, was there to offer support to the grassroots event.
Novices made up half of the total entries and this is an encouraging
statistic indeed, and an important element to take racing off the
streets, as well as grow motorsports at grassroot level. The Grass
class allowed two practice runs followed by three official timed
runs per driver.
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Micro
Cars Do Micro Times
The Grass Class A (below 1300cc) was dominated by an assortment of
Perodua Kelisas, with Lau Kheh Hian taking top spot with 59.5s. Just
a mere 3/100ths of a second behind was Lee Chan Hoh. Experienced
autocrosser Alven Lee took the final podium position with 60.54s.
Kenneth Chiew was one of two flagbearers for Proton cars, coming in
a commendable fifth place with 61.12s in his 1.3 Proton Wira
Aeroback.
In Pro Grass class, Team
Redline's Chan Yau Koon, a regular feature and winner in local
autocross events, again showed superiority with a 139.47s cumulative
time (best of two runs), upstaging Clement Chan (140.52s) and
William Chong (142.94s). Fellow Redline team-mate Shahrom aka
Meatball took fourth place with 144.54s. Kenneth Chiew who also
participated in Grass class, finished 5th with 146.34s. Class points
were awarded for Top 5 finishers - 6pts, 4pts, 3pts, 2pts and 1pt
respectively.
Hot
1600s!
In Grass class, Ho Wai Hoe emerged a worthy winner with 60.47s
fastest time set in his final run. The keenly-contested Class B
(1301-1600c) saw Low Sim Chee in his Honda Civic EG playing second
fiddle with a 60.66s run, with a Hyundai Inokom Getz driven by
Anthony Lee, powering in at a surprising third place. Lee Mei Fong,
a female contestant driving a Honda Civic, proved gender is no
obstacle, with a commendable fifth place finish, upstaging half a
dozen other male competitors.
The Honda Civics ruled the quick course in Pro-Grass. Christopher
Chin came out tops in stylish VTEC fashion to score full six class
points, running away with a scorching 135.78s cumulative time.
Veteran Galen Lai was just 2 seconds behind to take second place
with 137.19s, and Clement Yeo hot on his tail with 138.09s. Jason
Foo in a Proton Satria 1600, winner of the earlier novice class
including Fastest Time of the Day, came in a close fourth (138.41s).
Daymen Lai in a Honda CR-X took the final 5 position (141.19s).
First-timer Victor Cheong, who also happens to be a champion
national go-karter, came in sixth with his Toyota Corolla LE.
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Champs
Do Battle!
In the novice camp, Jason Foo outlassed his opposition in his
Satria GTi, scoring an empathic win over fellow SGTi owners
with a 58.44s fastest time, which evidently was also Fastest
Time of the Day (FTD). Popular blogger Dennis Woo finished on
the podium with 60.06s whilst Md. Noor Fahmi took up the final
podium spot (60.22s). |
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The competitive Pro-Grass
Class C was a three way battle amongst autocross greats - Soo Sing
Kuan, Julian Pang and Gareth Tan. Regular winner and podium
finisher Soo Sing Kuan or Soomacher as he is affectionately known,
powered his recently upgraded Honda Civic to a top spot finish
with a 136.00s cumulative time. Team Redline's Unker Pang aka
Julian Pang fought gallantly to the finish but had to be satisfied
with second spot with a very quick 136.23s. Consistently fast
Gareth finished a close third with 137.75s. Team STR's Vernon Chan
in Julian's Wira 1800 finished fourth with 140.94s, trailed by
Kamal Ariffin in another Wira 1800 (144.79s).
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Lotus
Dominance
Jack Tan assimilated his non-existent opponents in the lonely Grass
Class D with a 65.72s fastest time.Class D in Pro-Grass was an
entirely different story altogether. Covering cars beyond 2000cc,
sports cars, two seaters, kit cars, compact sports car, luxury sedan
and 'unclassifiable vehicles', was an eclectic and colourful mix of
powerful cars. Always a marvel to watch, the Lotus Elises from the
Lotus Club proved their dominance once again with a strong 1-2-3
finish. Former Hypertune Magazine editor, Hisham Jahudi battled
intensely with compatriot Marcus Chye before emerging victorious.
His 129.49s topped Marcus's 130.16s and 17-year old racing
extraordinaire Dominic Ang's 132.88s times. Hisham's 64.59s fourth
timed run also effectively gave him Fastest Time of the Day (FTD).
Former rally champion Ivan Khong had to settle for fourth place in
his Subaru Impreza (135.00s), pipping Mickey Teoh's MR2 monster
(138.68s).
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2501cc and beyond!
The novice big boys hangout was spearheaded by Derek Wong's MR2
turbo, scoring a 59.79s. Professional rally navigator and overall
nice guy Gary Lee impressed with his BMW 328i, topping 60.43s to
take second spot. Mike Ng, who ditched his red Mitsu EVO VII this
time round, came Nismo-powered in his S15 Silvia to take a close
third (61.09s). Ashlyn Guok in a MR2 turbo did the girlies proud
with a strong fourth place finish (61.29s).
Who says you gotta drive stick?
Winner of last round's 'Bling Bling' award, Timothy Hardie Ketit,
came around with a Kancil 660 turbo AT instead of his Subaru
Forester, to clinch top spot in the Grass Class Below 1600cc Auto
category. His time of 61.28s beat Kevin Kong's Kelisa (61.97s) and
Mervyn Hii's Toyota Corolla SEG (64.12s).
Championship Race Begins
The Championship proper for Pro-Grass Class headed off in
nail-biting fashion, with the Lotus boys occupying the Top 3 spots.
Hisham Jahudi sits up top with 9 points at the start of the
championships, with Marcus Chye and Dominic Ang occupying second and
third respectively with 7 and 6 points. It was no surprise that the
Top 5 spots were occupied by more powerful cars from Class D –
Ivan Khong and Mickey Teoh battling for points in fourth and fifth
place, their times separated by a mere 0.01s! The only point-scorer
from Class B was the impressive Christopher Chin, scoring 3 points.
Final two places were taken up by Class C leaders - Soo Sing Kuan
and Julian Pang.
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2007 Looks Bright
GRA 2007 Round 1 has certainly revived the autocross scene
with its 2007 debut, promising bigger, better things to come
in coming months. GRA is committed to five rounds this year,
soundly backed by sponsors and the MAM, and from the looks of
things, the future looks bright indeed.
Kudos to GRA (Ian and Jian Nin) for a smooth-sailing, fun-filled Round 1!
A big thanks also for bringing back the GRA Ambassadors -
Fiona Kwok and new counterpart Nicole!
Photography
credits - Zey Tee.
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For
full results, visit:
GRA 2007 Round 1 Full Official Results
More photos and coverage
below:
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