Star Drift Challenge 2009 Final Round – Day 1

It has been quite a while since we’ve been to any drifting events, and for a breather, we took a trip down to the Star Drift Challenge in sunny Melaka for the final round of the series this year. Starting from an early morning dash on the NSE on Saturday morning, we stayed till the very end on Sunday too, and here’s what conspired on the first day of the final round of Star Drift 2009!

The action actually started on Friday night where we were waiting to load some cars on two transporters which brought the race cars to A’Famosa Resort, the venue for the event. Being bored while waiting, Ariff drew some cute cartoon characters on Ryuk1d’s AE86.

Arriving at A’Famosa VERY early in the morning, only to find Ngan and a few others which were finalizing the track layout, we proceeded to hang around until the transporters arrived. As soon as the tent and tools were unloaded onto the pitlane, the early birds tested out the track layout and sent out feelers for the best lines.

Mama drifter sliding through one of the corners on Saturday morning.

Besides us, the second to arrive were the Under5ive crew with Rhenadi, the familiar face from Indonesia. His blue S13 is a common sight at local drift events, and he himself has progressed from a podium-clinching Novice in last year’s Malaysian Drift Challenge to a competitive driver in the Ace category during this event.

Some other shots of the early morning arrivals;

By lunchtime, it was apparent that most of the drifters had arrived, including some superstars such as Rudy Norman and his brother Johan, Loyai as well as Team Bridgestone with Tengku Djan and Ivan Lau. We took a quick pit walk during the lunch hour to size up the competitors for the day. With a total of 42 competitors, the final round of Star Drift was rather small in comparison to other editions, but with such figures, the organizers will not have any trouble with time.

A marshal taking a short nap during lunch hour; it was definitely a hot day although we don’t know how used RE001s could be that comfortable.

Nursing a flu, Cheaka took her time off to recharge while the rest of the pit crew were stuck with a blown transmission on Skagee’s car. A replacement is on the way, and all they could do now was wait.

More custom graphics courtesy of Ariff.

A lovely color choice on one of the cleanest AE86s in the drift circuit. It’s a wonder how he manages to keep the car that clean and good looking since the potential for scuffles during tsusio is darn high!

Loyai changing his own tires…..with a sinister expression AHAHHAHAHA. Nice dished rims though!

The FX Open car arrives on its own transporter, accompanied by one of the GT-R’ed shod 350z.

Even with that many NOS bottles, it is never enough for a 2-day event!

Sean Khoo’s Kumho 13 car sitting in the pits…..

…beside Mr Nismo’s own R32 which had developed power problems due to some gremlins somewhere. He did take it out for a couple of spins before finishing up the judging rules though.

Malaysia’s drifting scene poster boys in their tents. The Bridgestone team is the closest to a Malaysian Project-D complete with purpose-built racecars and a large support crew. The final person in the trifecta, Tan Tat Wei could not make it due to a problem with his machine, leaving only T.Djan and Ivan to defend the championship.

A pristine-looking Skyline parked alongside Lok Sifu’s daily driver. IMHO, it’s too white, showing that either the owner: a) cleans it on a daily basis, b) has gone to a car spa before coming over to Melaka or c) keeps it as a showcar!

A gaggle of cars from an institute that we have not heard of. Promechanix’s the name, and these cars look suspiciously stock on the outside.

More people were arriving during lunchtime, including one turbocharged, widebody, killer-looking KE70. Check out the offset on the front rims!!

A rear shot of Team Goodyear’s Michael Gan’s Toyota-powered, ER34-looking Cefiro. Yes, it’s a true-blue ceffy and it sure as hell doesn’t look like one!

The Prince of Drift taking to the track after lunch. He drifts like he was doing it since conception; he definitely holds a presence on the track, and whenever he makes his runs, the rest will stay and watch, probably to learn a few tricks too!

After lunch, the madness ensues; look at the guys tsusio-ing. It feels like Bukit Jalil!

I’d like to call him the Team Toyo Falken Soon Jaya driver; even his number plate is customized.

More hilarity from the AE86 gang. It looks fun out there when you get to rev at full throttle in the corners.

Loyai and Rhe in a tandem drift; a few months before this, you would not even think that the young kid could manage to keep up with old-timers like Loyai, but he did manage to put on some pressure.

More AE86 fun!

Rudy in his 400+bhp Silvia S15. He definitely has all the power he needs; controlling it would be a major issue instead of dumping the clutch. He has so much power, he only has to blip the throttle to keep the rear sliding!

Rocker Loh negotiating the rear clipping point on the R-shaped track.

Ivan Lau doin’ his thang. He definitely makes the most smoke in an AE86; such is expected of a car that is equipped with N2O and runs on race fuel! I’m liking the clean graphics on his car though, its neat and classy without being too ostentatious.

That’s a huge intercooler on the AE70*!

*AE86 Levin front on KE70 chassis

Here are more people from several parts of the track; amateur photographers beware; cars can fly from all directions, so keep your ears peeled, even while looking through the lens!

Mechanical troubles for Team Goodyear!!

Earlier in the day, three of the four Team Goodyear cars were plagued with mechanical problems; Jane’s car had an electrical problem which killed all of her meters, Ariff’s S13 had a busted gearbox and Michael’s machine blew a hose for the oil pressure sensor. The easiest problem to fix was Michael’s. Swapping the outlet for a nut and replacing the lost engine oil, he was up and running as soon as his mechanic returned from Tampin with a properly-sized nut.

His car was bleeding all right! As a consolation, he got fresh engine oil in return.

Ariff’s gearbox was out by 5pm, and we were waiting for a replacement from KL before we could do anything else for the day.

In the meantime, its great to break out some KFC and have dinner! Leong was exhausted and decided to take a short nap….until I flashed him in the face!

Help arrives! thanks to the efforts of Drift House’s Joe-Han, a replacement S14 gearbox and an alternator was delivered in record time.

With some help from the Tampin local mechanics, the problem was quickly sized up.

Working to get the 180SX back on its tires in the meantime, the new alternator was installed.

A great way to pass time’; checking out the reflective print on the Goodyear Racing tees!

By 11.45pm, Jane’s car had no more electrical issues and the gearbox was installed. Not bad for a 2-man team which started working from 8pm! It was a great experience knowing how the guys from What could pull off a Prodrive-like achievement even without additional manpower and specialized parts which can be installed in seconds. The report for the second and final day will be published the day after, so stay tuned!