The R3gister - Race Rally Research (R3)

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by Hammond Lai, R3 Team MME Works driver, Waja Class C

My essay on how it all went.

Race supposedly starts at 12.07am but was delayed to 12.13am. We the Waja team qualified in 17th position in our class C, out of 24 cars, and in 60th position overall out of 77 cars. As Friday’s qualifying was partly done in the rain, all the 3rd drivers for class A & O cars had to qualify in the rain. Most advantageous was class B where almost all drivers qualified in the dry, and class C was next advantageous. As such, it is normal that some of the class A & O cars qualified behind us. We were delighted to have japanese drifter/gt driver N. Taniguchi slotted behind us, as well as some of the porsches. Our 1st driver Sutan actually told Taniguchi that he will let him pass when the race starts, hahaha. The odds were, our Waja had the 4G18 1.6 single cam engine, and Taniguchi’s DC5 is the 2.0 VTEC twin cam. Difference is 1 cam.

When the race started in dry weather, our 1st driver Sutan actually gained a few places to about 12th (not too sure but somewhere there). When Sutan pitted, the power steering belt broke and we drove with hand-power for the rest of the race. Though demotivated slightly, but we pressed on. Our 2nd driver Zaid maintained the position, as our pitstop was quick and painless. At about 2.30am, it was my turn to drive. Driving without power steering is a real experience for me, plus I only went out for 3 laps when - shiite - the rain came - immediately after I passed the pit. It was only raining partially in the track at that time. I was at turn 5 when it showered but no rain at turn 14. I knew that the team was waiting for me with rain tires but I was comtemplating not to pit, and try to pull out a Schumacher-in-the-rain trick, all in that 300metres, cuz that’s where the pit lane entrance is! But then again, I thought - “this is no time attack, and I’m not racing myself, but the whole team is looking at me. The main thing in MME is to finish the race.” Yes, I thought of all that in the last 250metres, hahaha, and straight dived into the pits. No doubt about it the crew was waiting for me with rain tires. While waiting for tires to be changed, Adian came over next to my window and said “Just drive at your own pace, relax and most importantly is to finish the race”. I was quite nervous in the first place, cuz I didn’t have any practice in Sepang in rain before, and I qualified in the dry too. So I guess it’s fair for everybody to be nervous during my first stint in the rain. So I went out there, and I was glad bout my decision to pit in, as it was raining cats n dogs all over the track! I was very cautious at first, and was trying out braking distance and cornering limits. Suprisingly the Silverstone rain tires were excellent in heavy rain. I also saw many cars running out of the track, and some are in my class. That song “Another One Bites The Dust” by Queen was singing in my head as I happily pass them, hahaha. As I have watched the Hungarian F1 recently, and saw how Alonso overtook Schumacher on the outside of a turn - which has taught me to take the road less travelled. And so I did. After feeling the new handling in wet tires, I began attacking the track, and not long after that, I found myself overtaking Hondas and Lotus’ that once overtook me in the dry. So I began to drive faster, and braking later, all using a different racing line compared to other cars. I managed to overtake many cars, and at the same time saw many cars crashed out, yellow lights everywhere, flags flying everywhere! It was a real commotion. I must say our Waja was handling really excellently in the wet - cornering and braking far better than other cars in our class and other RWD cars. There was a scary incident where I tried to overtake a Lotus Elise (not the R3 one) at turn 5 on the outside line. I was halfway passing the Elise and suddently he drifted towards me, and I had to sway more to the right side of the road to avoid accident! I managed to pass the Elise unscathed but unfortunately for the Elise, I think he went out of the track, cuz my rear view mirror saw the headlights turn 360 deg. Man, that was a real scare.

When I ended my 1st stint, we were 3rd in class. Sutan took over next, and maintained the same pace, and at one point even managed 2nd position in class. By the time Sutan finished his 2nd stint, we were struck once again with bad news - wipers are not working! We decided to drive it as it is, applied more Rain X (this stuff really works), and in went Zaid. Halfway through, Zaid pitted and said that visibility was poor due to lack of wipers. The team applied more rain X, and cleaned the windscreen, and off he went again. When Zaid came in, and went out again, we lost 1 position and was at 4th. We were thinking of fixing the wiper but afraid of losing precious positions at the race conditions where we are strongest, we decided not to fix the wipers and drive it as it is. So in came Zaid and I went out for my 2nd stint. It was another good decision not to change the wipers, as the Rain X stuff really works, with water just rolling away. We gained back our position at 3rd after my stint, and after that last incident, everything went smoothly till the end.

Morning came, rain stopped, and by 9am, the sun was beginning to dry out the circuit. By the time Zaid did his 3rd stint, the team decided to change back to slick tires. It was another good decision, and our times were back to normal track lap times. I did my 3rd stint at about 9.30am. Next up was Sutan, all done smoothly. The last 3 hours was the most stressful for us, cuz we were at 3rd position and another Civic was catching us slowly. So Sutan and I was told to push. By the time last driver Zaid drove, he was told to go flat out! I was lucky that I wasn’t in that position, hahaha.

When the chequered flag dropped, all of us at the R3 pit was delighted that Team Exige 300RR took top honours but we were even more excited that Team Waja was about to finish 3rd! And we really DID IT! We also finished 15th overall. Congrats to Team Waja for holding it out, doing things at electrifying pace all throughout the 12 hours, and making the right decisions when it matters. Thanks also, to Amin at R3, the unsung hero who’ve been satisfying our stomachs with food, caffeine and the all important Ribenas, 100 plus and water to rehydrate the drivers.

Also to guys at R3, Proton Edar (especially the lovely lovely ladies for their umbrella support ;P ), GRA, Furtive, and other autocrossers, thanks for your support right from the start.

PS : We were racing the Waja with MME Edition body kit - it looks good too, cuz my folks say they want one Wonder if any freebies for driver