Events; GRA Round 1 2009: Night Grass

Here are some terribly noisy shots caught at the recent GRA competition in Shah Alam, the second night GRA (after a session in Penang) ever to be held in Malaysia. Held by MAM with the cooperation of the GRA team (made possible by the Khong brothers), this GRA session was a drawn out affair, with two track layouts as well as dividing the field into several car classes. We’re not that proficient in the GRA scene, so bear with us as we bring you a quick report; Net connectivity in Melacca is terrible! Okay, we’re back in KL now, and here goes!

Transcending the notion that all Atos is slow; the dude’s helmet reminds me of Frankenstein in Death Race 2000!!!

This Vios did well in the Grass class; as you can see, you don’t need a fancy car to enjoy the thrills of GRA

This second-gen Starlet is scarily fast; turbocharged 110WHP makes it a true pocket rocket.

Julian Pang’s famous Wira

Cars at the starting line; they were accurately timed down to thousandths of a second during each run.

Uncle Mohan’s ver.9 is silent on the track. Really silent.

Who says the Suzuki Swift is slow? William Lim’s 1.5 model has a manual (!!!!) box and a seriously loud exhaust which suprises us

You might have seen this car prowling around LDP and near the Khong family’s workshop.

Mike Ng, fresh off last week’s drift clinic =D

A true FF Levin, a really rare specimen in a world where boring cars are more commonplace.

Uncle Mohan, once again. Had to use 3rd-curtain flash, the lighting conditions were seriously bad for amatuer shooters like me

We know for sure that it’s a Daihatsu……..Ascent? Charade?

Another competitor trying to brake in time after the timing gate. Most of them just locked up their wheels and hoped for the best.

Powered by a turbocharged Daihatsu engine, this Kancil has a really silent exhaust, save for the occasional blowoff. Come to think of it, the engine bay is quiet as well, no screaming 660cc banshee here!

Here’s William’s swift once again. In case you’re wondering, I was shooting at ISO3200 – my first time using that sensitivity!

Whoohoo! An EF locking up its wheels directly after the timing gate.

This Putra was caught navigating around the last obstacle, near where we were standing.

From this angle, Ariff’s S13 looks like a stock car….the one that drives around in circles, not ’stock’ as in stock S13! Check out the glowing WHAT sticker!

Those aren’t glowing brakes; this Neo has valve caps with LEDs on them. Beng? You decide….it looks great on photos like this, though.

As orange as the cones around it =D

Ted is a ray of light for disabled drivers everywhere! Bonus points for using an automatic Kenari too!

A Bimmer Z4 M! Its not like you can see one anyday, and its here doing GRA!

Jane completing her first run. During the night race, she was only a second behind her husband

MR and a short wheelbase would be a great platform for these events. Add a CVT that does the D-S-D-S trick, and even beginners should be clocking fast times.

Doriya!!!!! Not uncommon for rear wheel drive cars to drift around on the track, but drifting is not the fastest way around the corner….

I like this image alot, not because of the EG, but because its one of the sharpest shots I had that night….

Kenneth’s Meg’s sponsored Wira in action.

Mike was so fast in this shot, even my watermark is blurred out!

James Russel’s rally-prepped Scooby has got to be experienced in the flesh. His high cams and the rally lights won him the bling bling award that night.

Our superstar (according to Leong) in his Proton Saga Coupe with a 4AGE transplant. He did okay for a first-timer, but in the end was hampered as the C21 Sagas did not come with a power steering rack.

I wish this shot wasn’t hampered by the water barrier =.=

Lancer Turbo taking the corner at high speed!

*shameless Sync Optima plug* XD

Have you heard of SUMO motor oil? No? Me neither O.o

The aforementioned Levin

Mike posing in front of…..Ariff’s car?

Ian with some lengluis. Notice the smile? This is how you’ll smile when you’ve got lengluis around you! XD

That’s all for now, and if your car isn’t featured, we’ll definitely do that at the next daytime GRA event! The lack of sun is certainly a hindrance in shooting these night events, so see you around at the next GRA! The next one will definitely be mentioned at the official website here = www.grassracingautosports.com