Went with a close friend, Fahrein, a motorsport enthusiast, and a few of his cousins who are also into motorsport! He was driving his wife's Swift Sport to Sepang for the first time. BTW, his wife is also into motorsport. Well, now you know why we're close hehehe
Suzuki Swift SportIt was raining heavily and very slippery. On the way from my house to Sepang, already seen a few cars had an encounter with the guard railings/divider. Mmm.. maybe it's a wise decision to leave my car at Fahrein's house.
At Sepang, met with Fahrein's cousins in a Toyota Levin AE111 and a new-ish Honda Civic Type R a.k.a. FD2R. Quite many cars were there actually, even though it was Aidiladha. Well, mostly are Chinese. So many different type of cars this time around. What I noticed (and remembered) are a pair of Mitsubishi Airtrek, Toyota Caldina GT4, Mini Cooper JCW & a sweet Mini Cooper track car, BMW E46 325i & M3, BMW E60 530i, 530d & M5 (great car, 'poyo' driver though), Toyota Vios (!) & Altis (!), Audi A4, Merc C200K, a howling Toyota Supra, Fiat Coupe Turbo, etc.. etc.. Not to mention the usual suspects i.e. the various Evos, Rexes and FD2Rs. But the star of the day was this:
Yes, the awesome (and bloody expensive) Godzilla a.k.a. GTR35. In equally awesome matte-black colour. Lucky sod.
Yummy! Mini Cooper Challenge car, driven by drift star, Tengku Djan
So many fellow scoobies
1st outing - Suzuki Swift Sport (Driver: Fahrein)
Since I was not driving, all I can do was tag along on the cars. Well, that's why I brought my helmet along hehehe He was taking it carefully. Just checking grip level. From the looks of it, it was bloody slippery. The proof? The session was red-flagged after just 2 minutes being started, someone already went off-track.
The lap was mostly un-eventful as the slippery condition did not permit hard driving.
That's a genuine E60 M5 and a Mini JCW beside it
2nd outing - Toyota Levin AE111 (Driver: Mu'amil)
I have timed this car & driver. He was doing 3:09 laps in such condition, on wet racing tyres. Nevertheless, the time is sensational anyway, considering the car is more or less stock!
When I was in the car, the first corner was kind scary. He was late-braking like mad, but then I found out, the car has very good brakes and grip level from the wet tyres are just superb. Almost unbelieveable amount of grip was available from the tyres.
I have timed this car & driver. He was doing 3:09 laps in such condition, on wet racing tyres. Nevertheless, the time is sensational anyway, considering the car is more or less stock!
When I was in the car, the first corner was kind scary. He was late-braking like mad, but then I found out, the car has very good brakes and grip level from the wet tyres are just superb. Almost unbelieveable amount of grip was available from the tyres.
Being a race driver, he was super-brave in his driving. Getting very close to the car in front and overtaking people left & right. I would never do that on track, for the sake of avoiding a collision. And he also have very little mechanical sympathy. His driving style is quite brutal. But I guess, that's just his style.
But the laps were really enjoyable. He did overtook so many cars, FD2Rs, Evos, S2000s, etc.. etc.. Impressive stuff
3rd outing - Civic FD2R (Driver: Hichame)
I timed the car to be around 3:12 in the condition. So it's a bit slower than the Levin. But the ride is totally different. It was very comfortable. Almost too comfortable to be on a track hehehe Well, it's a brand new car anyway. And surprising amount of grip available from the semi-slick RE-070 tyres.
I timed the car to be around 3:12 in the condition. So it's a bit slower than the Levin. But the ride is totally different. It was very comfortable. Almost too comfortable to be on a track hehehe Well, it's a brand new car anyway. And surprising amount of grip available from the semi-slick RE-070 tyres.
When I was driving behind this car in Sepang, it was super-fast, but when I was inside, it didn't feel as fast as I thought. The push-in-the-back feeling is not clearly felt. Acceleration felt a bit blunt and ordinary. But the engine just pulled cleanly all the way to the redline. It's advantage is it's gearing which suits the track very well.
The FD2R that I get to ride on. The one on the leftOverall it was a fun outing, even I was not driving. A different perspective. The star of the session to me was this white Subaru Impreza RA-R which was putting in 2:54 wet laps. Which was just a second off of the vastly more powerful GTR35. Thinking of it, I did 2:53, in the dry. Ouch!
Damn, I need more practice.
A very nice Evo 6. The car that hooked me on to Jap rally reps
Cars lining up on pit lane
1 comment:
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