Shah Alam, November 11th 2007 – It was a dramatic day for Grass Racing Autosports autocrossers. BFGoodrich Tires being the main sponsors of the championships, made history by having the first autocross with a timed session in the dry and in the wet. The thunderstorms and strong winds, came as per scheduled and drivers were once again treated to a nice splash and drive session. The rain did not dampen the sprits of the drivers, but made the race even more exciting with their dynamic display of car sliding.

A total of 76 cars competed in the 4th Round of the GRA Autocross Championships. Sponsored by BFGoodrich Tires along with partners Red Line Oil, Meguiar’s and Arospeed, it was a wet race as previously before in Round 2, and this time the drivers were in for a wet race again.

For Round 4, the electronic timing equipment was specially flown in for the event. Said Ian Khong, “We believe that with this new equipment, timing will be more accurate, and will bring the sport up to a higher level.” With stopwatches, there is always the human element, and reaction time. With our new equipment, the beam is broken by the car at the start line and at the finish line. We don’t need a count-down anymore, and we don’t have to worry about the weather, as it works even in the rain.”

Grass Class was held in the morning session, which comprises of novice drivers. More than 50% of the entries this round was totally new to the sport of autocrossing. In the Grass Class A ( up to 1300cc ), Alven Lee in a Kelisa took top spot from Kenneth Chiew in a Proton Wira followed closely by Nigel Chye. The 1.3 novice class is having a close battle to the final round for each championship point. In Class B ( 1301cc-1600cc ), Garick Goh in a Proton Wira 1500cc, came in 1st with a full second lead from newcomers Teoh Cheng Tat and Ronnie Chong with 2nd and 3rd respectively. Round 3’s podium winner Kylie Lee, had a massive off into the drain in the first timed run, and the race was officially delayed for an hour. She was sent to a nearby clinic for a precautionary check and returned an hour later with happy smiles. “ I am okay, the helmet and harness saved my life “, explained Kylie to all the participants that cheered and clapped on her fantastic display of racing spirit.

In Class C ( 1601cc-2000cc ), it was total domination by the Proton Satrias in all podium positions. Jason Foo came in 1st with Dennis Woo and Alex Yeo following closely. For Class D ( 2001cc-2500cc ), Damion Chee in a decked out Arospeed Honda Accord emerged top spot. He is the sole competitor in this class for this round, but amazingly he was 8th fastest for the overall grass class despite driving a very large automatic premium car.

In Class E ( 2501cc & Above ), Ray Leong in his Nissan 200SX emerged 1st with Mike driving a Nissan S15 coming in 2nd and Ashlyn Guok driving a MR2 Turbo coming in 3rd. Ashlyn was the fastest lady of the day, and her racing skills are evidently quite good with her being able to be quicker than some of her male friends. For the ‘Bling Bling Award’ for having the nicest looking race car for the day, went to Nicholas Wang in his KakiKereta Proton Neo. The Best Decal Award went to Dennis Woo with his “Transformer” Proton Satria GTi. However the “ Transformer “ car did not transform into any robot form that day.

The Pro-Grass drivers were out on the course in the afternoon. The first two timed runs were in the dry. Just after lunch, heavy downpour came with strong winds. The wind was so strong that the pylons started walking away on their own. The drivers voted for a wet race when the rain started to subside, and racing was resumed after Ian Khong checked that the course was safe for racing.

In Class OA ( Below 1300cc ), Chan Yau Koon from Team Red Line took top spot with Julian Pang and Alven Lee coming in 2nd and 3rd respectively. In Class OB ( 1301cc-1600cc ), Galen Lai emerged 1st with Clement Yeo coming in 2nd with Christopher Chin in 3rd. The top 3 positions were dominated by Hondas. In Class OC ( 1601cc-2000cc), Soo Sing Kuan in a Honda Civic took 1st with Julian Pang and Chan Yau Koon from Team Red Line in the same Proton Wira 1.8 in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

In the Class OD ( Beyond 2000cc ), Y.S.Khong in his son’s Subaru Impreza which is Ivan Khong’s, was the quickest. However as he was an invited driver, he was not eligible for any positions for the class wins. Thus in 1st place, Mike Ng in a Mitsubishi Evolution 7 took top spot with Alvin Lim and Mickey Teo in 2nd and 3rd respectively in their Toyota Mr2s. “ I am having a lots of fun especially in the wet, and I am driving my son’s car for the first time today, “ explained Y.S. Khong, 5 times ex-Malaysian Rally Champion.

One of the most interesting classes was the Grass Class F whereby it comprises of Automatic cars up to 1600cc. Timothy Ketit in a Kancil Turbo came in 1st with Charlene Khoo in a close 2nd place in her Kelisa with Valerie Atkinson in a Toyota Vios in 3rd. The Automatic class is currently dominated by ladies who seem to occupy the 2/3 majority of the podium positions for round 4.

“ GRA is now synonymous with the autocrossing community as it is the cheapest form of motorsports in this country, we only hope to grow this form of racing as time goes along “, explains Jiannin, CEO Of GRA.

Lookout for Round 5 in December 2007, for further details log onto www.grassracingautosports.com