KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 11 ― If you like to drive competitively, and don't have the funds to take part in motor racing, here is an avenue for you to firstly, let off steam, secondly, learn to drive competitively, thirdly, compete with others in a safe environment, and last but not least, do it in the car you drive to work.
GRA, or Grass Racing Autosports has an Autocross Championship Series that has been running for 8 years. What started as a discussion over a teh tarik session amongst car enthusiasts one fateful Friday night eight years ago sparked something in Ian Khong, already a race and rally veteran at the age of 31, and prompted him to start Grass Racing Autosports, and the rest is history. Incidentally, GRA is the single longest surviving autocross championships in Malaysian motor sports history.
Motor racing is an expensive sport, and sponsorships in Malaysia are hard to come by, so Ian concentrates on grass roots level racing. In GRA, there are various categories of cars, including one for standard Proton Sagas, with no modifications allowed; this means that even if you own a Proton Saga, you can enter GRA, and still win an award, because you would be competing with other Proton Sagas that are technically exactly the same as the one you are driving ― it would be your driving skill that would determine whether you win or lose.
There is even a category for cars with automatic transmissions, and a category for newbies. In addition, cars are also categorised by engine capacity, to make the playing field as level as possible.
Events usually start with scrutineering (physical and technical checking of cars by the organisers for compliance to regulations and safety). That is when all the participants bring their cars over to the GRA headquarters in Petaling Jaya, and put on their stickers. The key stickers are the competition number, and also the “OK” sticker that signifies the car has been passed for the event. The good thing about GRA is that two drivers can share the same car.
On Sunday morning, all the cars gather at the race venue, usually a large car park area, and after briefing, take a “walk” through the course, which is usually marked out by cones. Then the practice runs start, and competitors are given several chances to run through the course. All competitors must run through the course in the correct sequence, failing which they are classified as “WC”, denoting “wrong course”.
Each run takes between one and two minutes, and depending on the course layout and course location, each course would typically be between one and two kilometres long. Typically a course would consist of one or two short straights, and several tricky slaloms through cones, and perhaps a doughnut or two. (Slalom means a twisty course between cones, and a doughnut would be a complete circle around a cone.)
On courses with longer straights, the faster cars have an advantage, whilst “tight” courses with lots of twists and turns favour the smaller cars that are more nimble, and take up less room. Usually, a course is set up with combinations of the two, to make it more interesting.
Today’s event is Round 4 of the Championship, with two more rounds to go, and was held at the P1 parking area of the Sepang International Circuit. Fastest time of the day went to Mitch Chong in a Satria GTi, who clocked 1 minute 20.535 seconds on the course. Over seven timed runs. Mitch scored a total time of 4:02.290 to win overall honours, pipping Terence Soh in a Mitsubishi Evo 10, who clocked 4:05.290. Third overall was Ivan Khong, who clocked 4:05.825, seven hundredths of a second slower than Terence Soh. Ivan Khong’s day was spoiled by an incident in which he knocked over a cone when his car, running light, had fuel surge, causing it to bog down at a critical turn. Incidentally, timing is by electronic sensors, down to the nearest 1000th of a second.
A special award for Classic cars went to Ray Leong, who clocked 1:22.899 in a thirty year old Toyota Starlet. The Ladies award went to Sharina Ramlie, who drove her Kelisa to clock 1:37.815. The special Mazda Award for the fastest Mazda on track went to Chris Chong, who clocked 1:25.171 in his Mazda MX 5.
Those wishing to learn more about GRA can log on to www.grassracingautosports.com.
