The final round of GRA 2009 is over and we were there for a slice of the action; congratulations to all the winners and have a great time at the upcoming annual dinner! Held from 9am to 6pm at the parking lot beside the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya, this eventful finish to the Grass Racing Autosports calendar was befitting to such a competition that has seen drivers for all walks of life. Hit the jump below for even more action!

As usual, it started off as a briefing from the GRA head honcho, Ian Khong, 1/3 of the boys from the well-known Khong family. Apart from the usual safety rules and regulations, which were strictly enforced, sponsors for the year 2009 were also given a chance to speak to the drivers.

Besides the sponsors, the GRA ladies were also given a chance to introduce themselves to the predominantly male sport. *please use these photos responsibly*

After the briefing, it was time for a traditional track walk where drivers could check out the layout in detail. We took a panoramic shot of the track, and see if you can spot yourselves! (warning; file is slightly over 1.2MB, this opens in a separate window)

Track Walk Panoramic

Some of the drivers opted to tweak their cars for the event; and Ian was also doing his last-minute scrutinizing rounds.

Prior to the Pro-grass classes, the amateur Grass runs were held, specially for those who did not have overly modified cars with rollcages or rather, ‘stage 2’ and above mods. Also, the field seems to compose of cars with automatic gearboxes. Here are some of them in action!

The track layout of the day. Looks complicated, isn’t it? No? It gave 70% of the drivers (grass and Pro-grass included) DNF runs because they missed a few cones in the last three stages (S3 to S5)!! Its time to head back to the pits! Unlike most drift events where the track was enclosed, GRA has traditionally been dangerous to photographers especially on open tracks where drivers can get lost. Hence we had limited angles to stand at, until we can weasel out an all-go from Ian, here are the rest of the day’s shots! *hehehe*

Our ‘superstar’ Ryuk1d sweating it out, as usual. It was a darn warm day, not as warm as Star Drift the week before, but with double the humidity and half of the wind – everyone was sweating it out!

This Satria had a trumpet stack atop a ITB header. Sounds *almost* like a VTEC!

As you can see from the pic, Mervyn had a mechanical problem of the weird kind; the bumpy surface of the track caused his battery to dislocate and dislodge something on his fueling system O.o a quick retightening of things, and he was off again!

Even the coppers were keeping an eye out on that day. Errant competitors were discouraged from racing on the streets due to police presence, but that did not stop an impromptu drag race between an Evo and a White GT-R (R35) in the early afternoon, putting pressure on the organizers even though they were not part of the event. Tsk tsk tsk……

The marshals fixing the timing sensor after being hit by Mike in his red Evo.

The boys were anxious to have a look at their times, led by non other than Ariff. Here, they crowded the timing van like bees to honey.

Ted Chow reviewing his laptimes. The famed disabled driver in his now-sponsored Kenari was very consistent throughout the day, pulling in low 1:12s and high 1:11s throughout the four runs. *respect* *respect* *respect*

The drifters looking at the Tsusio lineups after the qualifying session……..NOT! There were a sizeable amount of drifters that day, and these famous people represent only half of the sideways community! Overall, they did a commendable job (and well-deserved trophies too!) in GRA, with Yoong bagging the second fastest overall time, only to be beaten by William-Ban-Sama-Dia in his Suzuki Swift!!

Bottles of Munn waiting to be popped open after the prize-giving……

The trophies. No water-carnival this time! Below are the GRA superstars with the GRA grid girls (can they be labeled as such??) posing with their cars after the session…

As usual ‘uncle’ Julian gets the whole curvy lot.

Ian was giving an interview for ESPN methinks, and the girls kept on hogging the limelight from their boss.

Finally, he gets to pose with his ladies!

After the lengthy prize-giving ceremony, the winners were all treated to a sparkling grape juice bath to signify the end of the 2009 GRA series. Here’s to a bigger and better GRA next year!

For those who want to see photographic proof of the timesheets, here they are;

Grass class timesheet

Pro-grass class timesheet

Hehe, a passing shot of a participant in the grass class at last weekend’s GRA 2009 Final Round in Putrajaya. Full report will be up on Thursday, so hold your ponies!

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