S1K race - 6 June 2009

Was there last weekend, after enduring a 1 1/2 hour long drive from Sg. Besi toll to Nilai/KLIA exit. Sounds ridiculous? Well, because it was! People slowing down traffic to a stop-n-go crawl, just to look at minor accidents by the road side, but that's a story for another time.

The stupid crawl on NSE

Was there to support my friends, Fahrein & Edrin driving for Team KL Motopark/Matspeed. Muzamil & Hisham driving their own team's car and old friend, Rashid, also driving for a private team.

The paddock pass. I was told it's RM50 for the pass, but found out its actually RM90 with parking. So chose to sit at the grand stand instead, which is free. Later I knew it was a wise decision. No way I'm gonna pay RM90 just to see race-prepped 'normal cars'... unlike MME race which normally has some nice Porsches RSRs, Astons, BMW Z4s and Holdens competing.

When I got there, it was more than 2 hours into the race, but still a long way to go to 1000km... In terms of car variety, it was very lacking. All I see was Integra DC2s, Civic EGs & EKs and Satria GTIs. The only saving grace was a pair of sharp-looking, white Satria Neo of Team Proton Axle, two Gen2s and two Toyota Levins. Sad also to find out last year's Class B MME winner, Proton R3's Neo parked in their pits, later I found out it was due to engine management problem.

Proton Axle's Neo

The race mostly was uneventful. The track looks kind of empty with the cars wide spaced between each other. But at times there are interesting scraps between similar cars, especially watching the how the Neos fighting off their bigger brother, the GTIs.

Integra vs GTI

But more importantly, I felt good to see the passion and determination of the participants, even for such a low-key event. Some teams came with fully prepped cars, complete with in-car hydraulic jacks and pit-lane speed limiter, backed by organised & professional pit crew. Meanwhile, some are competing just out of their passion for racing. I notice a very sick Putra, doing the laps at a very slow speed, but still keep on going, laps after laps. Just for the sake of racing and finishing the race. Quite a number of cars are devoid of any sponsor decals, except for Achilles and Petronas. the event sponsors. It means these people are racing out of their own pocket, for the fun of it. Their passion and determination amazes me and makes me of thinking of racing next year!

Fahrein & Edrin were driving the Team KL Motopark's rally-cross spec Gen2 (pic nicked from terato.com)

Rashid was the 1st driver of this rented Civic EG (pic nicked from terato.com)

Overall, it was an interesting race. I had to leave at around 4:00PM, the cars have done about 70-odd laps by then. At the end of lap 182 around 8:45PM, the race was won by team Type R with their Class 1 Integra DC2. Followed very closely by a Class 2 Civic EG! I totally believe the R3 Neo would've give them a good fight if it was still racing. Sad also that both Proton Axle's Neos expired before the end. Same goes for Muzamil's Levin. But Fahrein & Edrin finished the race, much to their delight.

Here, hoping for a better race next year. Maybe we can see more manufacturers taking part? Bring out the Civic FD2, Swift Sport, the over-dressed Latio, Vios, etc.. please...

BTW, 'S1K race' stands for Sepang 1000km race