It was a blistering hot day on the day of the GRA All Star Gymkhana 2009 – the sun was really intent on roasting everything in sight and it was hard not to believe in global warming while I was standing in the  blocked off outdoor carpark at Sunway Carnival in Seberang Jaya.

However, I was not the only one being cooked alive as everyone else who turned up for the event was sweating just as much (if not more) than I was. The funny thing is, I don’t think any of us cared about the heat as we were too caught up in the heat of the event.

It was so hot my head felt like it was in a pressure cooker when I put my helmet on.

Every sort of car you can imagine (and can’t imagine) came to take part in the gymkhana, which was really cool to see. As gymkhana places more emphasis on driver skill rather than car power there was an absence of big-powered, big turbo cars there.

There were Kelisas, Integras, Cefiros, Peugeots, old-school Civics and even this beautifully restored KE70 Corolla competing in the various classes:

The intense heat made my suspension really spongy at the front and I was battling ridiculous understeer all day. I tried adjusting my suspension setting to the hardest but to no avail, my springs were as limp as Tiger Woods’ dick after his wife threw a golf club at him.

My spring were so limp that my front left wheel ate into the mudguard, chewed it up and spat it out all over the car park.

One of the funnest cars to watch during the day was Timothy Ketit’s S15 (below) – the car was actually running a normally aspirated SR20DE engine (not the regular SR20DET turbocharged one) which I thought was really interesting.

Turbo or no turbo, Timothy tore it up around the track and delighted crowds every time he pulled up to the 360 cone and drifted round it.

As the course was pretty short, everyone managed to get a good number of runs in and props to GRA for squeezing in as many runs as possible for competitors so they could get their money’s worth.

I however called it a day after my mudguard died since there were some electrical wires dangling down from the engine bay and I didn’t want my wheels to have them for dessert. Luckily I managed to post a half-decent time before I retired. I wish I could have kept going though!

You might not be able to tell from the photo below since I look so calm and collected (haha) – but I am sweating buckets and being roasted alive in my car:

The Pro-Spec 1.0s I was wearing were amazing. They are the most comfortable racing shoes I have ever worn. Thank you DC!

Ian Khong (below) is the founder of Grass Racing Autosports, a professional rally driver (works Ford) and an all-round nice guy.

He was the organizer, course designer, timekeeper, coach and too many other things to mention. Despite being so busy with everything, he managed to keep the mood friendly and relaxed and STILL had time to give advice and encouragement to competitors.

I think the thing I liked best about the event was that most of the competitors were really friendly and everyone had a healthy respect for each other regardless of what car they were driving. This is the TRUE spirit of motorsports that I hope I can see more often in Malaysia.

It’s so much cooler than those posers who buy expensive sports cars and spend all their time TALKING about how fast their cars are instead of getting down and PROVING it.

To me the GRA All Star Gymkhana was totally not about winning or losing but just a bunch of enthusiasts getting together and learning more about their own car’s limits and trying to improve their driving skills. I had an amazing time and I really can’t wait for the next one!

I’d like to thank Ian Khong & Jian Nin from Grass Racing Autosports for organizing such a kick ass event, Tommy from Tommax for doing such a stellar job with the stickers on my car, Eric from Northern Garage for keeping my car in tip-top condition, Leong from Keat Chong Tyres for always spending more time than necessary testing my tyre pressures with me and last but not least Jeremy Hale & Cherice Fredricks from DC Shoes who have shown me nothing but love and support in my racing endeavors.

Posted on December 19th, 2009 by BadBoyBen
Filed under: Bad News, Cars, Events