The R3gister - Race Rally Research (R3)

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Written by Stanley Tai

Round 2dot6 was held in Danga Bay, Johor Bahru. The carpark was sandy and fast! This is one of the 2 rounds held outstation to provide variety to the competitors and spectators.

Running a race team aint easy, taking in account of the logistics, transport and management of everything is done by myself! Usually I’d have Vernon, Albert, Prozac or Andrew to help out with the workload, but with Vernon outta action due to injury, that meant I had to handle everything… Gosh! We had our racequeen, Bri to cheer us up, which she did tremendously. Pretty, young, sexy girls are always welcome to cheer us up anytime, all of the time!

During the coursewalk, I noticed the sandy patches and during my runs, I managed to avoid most of it, which proved to be quite decisive.

With practice run over, I did a 61+secs run, and Julian Pang did 58++secs. My work was clear cut for me. I had to match or beat his time.

Timed run 1, I did ok, but I knew I could better my 60.41 sec run. Julian ran a 59.64. We were on our own private battle, me and Julian. Grabbed a quick lunch, and came back in time for Time Run 2.

I couldn’t believe it. I did a 58.64, which was the FTD at that point in time. Fastest time overall. Julian trailed behind at a very close 58.96.

The man on a mission was Julian Pang. He went on to set the FTD in his final run, which was an unbelievable 56.93secs!!!! I managed a clean final run although I couldn’t beat Julian’s times nor improved my 2nd run. In the end, I was rewarded with a well-deserved 2nd place finish.

All in all, the sponsors were great in support TTR for our bid to have lots of fun and win some trophies. I’d like to thank our sponsors, for without them, we wont be as competitive as we were that day.

Thank you:
R3 Race Rally Research
UltraRacing
Silverstone Tires
RaceCraft Carbon Products
Tufoil
Kazuto Garage

But most of all, thank you Vernon for letting me race your car. She’s awesome. Hope your ankle’s well enough soon!

Cheers!
Stanley

Technorati tags: R3, autocross, Race Rally Research, Satria R3, Time Attack

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Cheerios!

Fresh from his win in the FTS Championships in Ipoh, veteran Julian Pang in a shared Proton Putra scored an impressive win at the R3TA Challenge 2dot6 in Danga Bay, Johor. My TTR team-mate and race partner Stanley scored his first podium win of the year with an impressive second place finish in my Stage 2 Satria R3. Funnily enough, it was the same venue in 2005 where he secured a similar 2nd place finish, behind then champion Hammond Lai.

Due to several eleventh-hour pullouts including points leader Ian Khong, the competitive Hung class was somewhat depleted this round. Competition no less keen, with just tenths of seconds separating the Top 5 finishers.

The Putra driven by both Julian and Boon suffered a broken gearbox a few days prior to the event and was a doubtful starter. Some miraculous work by YS Khong Motorsports gave both drivers a chance to compete.

Julian despite setbacks, demonstrated why he is multiple times autocross champion. He showed his mettle by not only winning his class by 2 seconds, but also successfully recording FTD - Fastest Time of the Day in his final run, beating even the great Hammond Lai in his B20B-powered Civic and 17-year old Dominic Ang’s Elise, both more powerful and lighter cars.

I am saddened and disappointed for not being able to make it for the 2nd round, held at one of my favourite venues. Not thanks to a bad ankle injury picked up during futsal a couple of days ago.

Points lost, but I will be sure to battle with guns-ablazing in the coming rounds. Check out full results here, courtesy of the hardworking Dennis Woo, who also participated in his SGTi in Hung class.

A big round of applause to R3 for another successful event and big congrats to all winners.

Unofficial R3TAC 2006/2007 Championship Standings:

1 Julian Pang- 18
2 Gareth Tan - 12
3 Stanley Tai - 12
4 Ian Khong - 10
5 Boon Tiong - 5
6 Tan Cheng Hiaw - 5
7 Vernon Chan - 5
8 Ho William - 3
9 Dennis Woo - 2
10 Nicholas Teh Kean - 2

Related links:
Current R3TAC 2006/2007 Championship Standings
Pics by Geoffrey Loh
Pics by Dennis Woo

Technorati tags: R3, autocross, Race Rally Research, Satria R3, Time Attack

18 April 2006, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian Super Series Round One: R3 Redefines the Limits

R3’s fourth place finish in the final classification of the first round of the Malaysian Super Series (MSS) can only be described as nothing less than stellar. The race held over the weekend took place at the North Track of the Sepang International Circuit.

“The objective for this round is to finish within the top five spot and collect points, we’ve achieved this and I’m very pleased with the team’s performance. Given the demanding circumstances and weather conditions, Faidzil performed admirably. This combined with the mechanically faultless Waja, was an excellent package. The team worked very hard to get the car sorted out and it really paid off for us.” said Mohd. Azman Abas, R3 Team Manager and Head Engineer.

In race one of the fiercely contended Super Sixteen Category, the team’s R3 Race Waja 1.6 driven by Faidzil Alang started 16^th on the grid and drove hard to hold back the advances of Chung Kum Chew driving a Honda Civic EK 1.6 to finish fifth with a slim 1.015secs lead. The Waja was the only four-dour sedan and one of only three Proton cars competing in a class of 23 cars mostly dominated by Honda Civics.

In race two, torrential downpour right after the start made it difficult for drivers to negotiate the 2.706km track as most, including R3, opted for full slicks anticipating dry conditions. While some chose to pit in early for wet tyres, Faidzil not wanting to loose precious track position stayed out on full slicks in the treacherous conditions relying on the optimal chassis and weight balance of the Waja to give an advantage over his competitors. The move proved to be a good one as the Waja once again finished fifth.

“I knew the weekend was going to be difficult because we had a considerable power deficit compared to the others. I had to push very hard right from the start and hold that pace throughout the race, it was very challenging. Despite being down on performance, the Waja’s excellent reliability and handling balance proved to be very advantageous for us as quite a few competitors had to pull out due to mechanical failure.” Faidzil Alang reported right after the race. “The rain was a double edged sword for us. Although we chose the wrong tyres, the Waja’s chassis and suspension settings coped well in the challenging conditions.”

For round two, the team will introduce its R3 Gen.2 Super Sixteen fitted with an R3 developed, highly tuned CamPro 1.6 engine claimed to produce close to 210hp to compete for the remainder of the MSS championships. R3 is confident that the more competitive engine and chassis package of the Gen.2 will enable them to achieve at least top three finishes throughout the season in line with their target to clinch the Super Sixteen championships in MSS for 2006.

“Our aim is this year is to be champions in the Super Sixteen category. We can only hope for better things to come when the R3 Gen.2 fitted with the highly tuned CamPro 1.6 engine is completed in time for round two. A lot of time has gone into the development of the car and we’re looking at a top three finish in each round, there’s no denying that first place is very possible” explained Tengku Djan Ley, Head of R3. “As for the Proton Waja, we’ve proven that it is a very competitive car. All the data gathered from the car will be directly transferred to the production of our performance parts for the road-going version. As it is, the performance cams, exhaust and suspension system can already be fitted onto a standard Waja.

Official Final Classification

Malaysian Super Series Round 1

Sepang International Circuit – North Track (2.706km)

Race 1 (15 laps)

1. Wong Yew Choong (Honda Civic EK) 19:12.355s
2. Syahrizal Jamaluddin (Honda Civic EK) 19:21.098s
3. Chan Sau Wie (Honda Civic EK) 19:27.736s
4. Khair Nur Ariff (Honda Civic EK) 19:47.661s
5. Faidzil Alang (R3 Waja) 20:03.186s

Race 2 (15 laps)

1. Tony Teo (Honda Civic EK) 22:21.167s
2. Wong Yew Choong (Honda Civic EK) 22:29:909s
3. Tunku Mutasim (Proton Putra) 22:45:236s
4. Chung Kum Yew (Honda Civic EK) 23:14:914s
5. Faidzil Alang (R3 Waja) 23:38.233s

Source: R3 Media

Technorati tags: R3, Malaysian Super Series, Satria R3, racing, cars, Race Rally Research