Good luck to all the Malaysian drifters participating in Formula Drift Thailand 2010. I know you guys will do our country proud!! Wish we could be with you but I guess this ‘down time ‘ will allow Cheaka and I ,along with the team, a bit of time to do stuff we never have time to do before like….
With a horrendous Formula Drift Malaysia 2009 and the Formula Drift Singapore 2010, Team Goodyear Sync Optima was really looking forward to the Goodyear International Drift Series . We had the cars prepared and preserve ( ie:not using on competitions following to it) as this competition is on the top of our priority list for this year!
picture taken from paultan.org
First day of practice went by perfectly as Jane and I basically got the course wired within a couple of tries and we were confident on doing well the next day.
Day two had us split into two groups whith us in the first group of practice.Having 1 hour of practice each group we had more than enough time to practice for the qualifying scheduled later. As my ‘wonderful’ luck had it, 15 minutes before our groups practice ends, my prop shaft had twisted to a pretzel!!
With only slightly over an hour before qualifying to get the parts and fix it. I knew it would be an impossible task ( which my crew did try anyway..thanks guys) and my day was over. So its a DNS ( Did Not Start) for me which I think is even worse than not qualifying 😛
Jane ,once again ,had her nerves get the best of her and fumbled during qualifying…oh well …call me a sadist but bring on round 2!!!
photo from paultan.org
It was back to MIMC Malacca but this time for Goodyear International Drift Series Round 2. Having exprience the short comings of the car here , we had the s13 set up differently and was eager to see how it handles. Car handled alot better but we reckon that there were alot more we could do to improve on . As always that will have to wait till after this event, once we get back to the shop .
photo taken by sham Tom
photo taken by Sham Tom
Jane had also improve remarkably with her runs now being more consistent and aggressive. We did practice tsuiso togather but she spent the bulk of the the practice session with Tan Tat Wei .
Qualifying
Held the next day, qualifying had me leading during the first round with 87.5 points. However I was knocked off by Djan who had a 91.6 on the 2nd run!
Jane’s runs were smooth with uninterrupted drifts . However her distance from the clipping points and zones had caused a huge deduction in points hence having her failed to get to the Best 16. Nailing the points and zones is something I believe she well get better with easily, at the rate she is improving now.
photo from paultan.org
Top 16
Having qualified 2nd had placed me on the other corner of the tandem chart which means I had to go out last!The waiting gave me the opportunity to get to know my tandem partner,Chester.He was driving a borrowed s14 since he car was badly damage during a crash at round 1! During our tandem battle I had managed to pull a gap when I was infront .While following, Chester had straighten slightly at the first rear clipping which forced me to back down my pace.However there wasn’t any interruption of my drift all the way to the finish.
photo from paultan.org
Top 8
For the next round , I had to go against a friend and fellow Goodyear mate, Ivan Lim. He was struggling of setup issues through out the event!! This had him straightening and taking the inner line while I was leading and going off course during initiation during his turn to lead.
photo from paultan.org
Top 4
Ivan Lau and I always joked about how we never get to go against each other during competition.For this round we both got ourwish. While leading, I managed to get ‘an advantage’ when Ivan straighten and with me pulling a gap between us. During my turn to follow, Ivan had controlled his pace during the start forcing me to initiate at a much slower speed than I was used to. This made me having to down shift immediately after initiation and fumbled during the up shift causing me straighten considerably longer than Ivan’s during the 1st run. The win was awarded to Ivan. I will definitely be wiser the next time around!!
photo from paultan.org
3rd and 4th
The final spot on the podium had me against Djan. He had qualified first , so he had the first lead run. I managed to narrow the gap though he had gained a healthy lead at the start. However I felt my line wasnt as good . Going into the 2nd run being unsure of who had the advantage, had me doing my best qualifying run only to see Djan in the barrier when I was approaching the rear clipping zone.Thankfully the crash was minor and no one was hurt!
photo from paultan.org
Though this wasn’t the first time being on the podium this year, I felt that this occasion was something special as it is Goodyear’s event..Hopefully my luck holds and do good for the up coming events!
Videos by eddie ZAKUMALAYA
And I thought Malaysia FD 2009 was bad…a hit on the wall during qualifying caused the fuel pump relay to get damaged and I was unable to complete the 2nd run. So a DNQ for me WTF???? Jane wasn’t spare either…but I’m sure she’ll do better with her new setup…Singapore 2011 here we come!!
The damage the S13 sustained was alot more serious than it appeared to be. Due to using aftermarket front lower arms and rear A arms, the impact to the wall had caused the front and rear subframe to shift! The tie rods were badly bent and the front knuckle wasn’t spared either. Being so late in the evening, it was impossible to get them replaced so with the help from the boys from Tek Ming Tyres, we basically had to try knocking everything back into place with a hammer and a welding torch.
It was almost 1am when we got everything done to best we could. The car steered straight but the steering would not return to center. I figured this was alright as long as I remember to manually counter steering whenever drifting. Besides it was so late into the evening and having hardly any sleep the past 2 nights, I couldn’t think straight 😛
I was eager to start the next morning’s pre-competition practice as I was curious on how the car handled.
Not wanting to risk anything, I insisted for Miki (Ryuji) to lead during our first run. Drifting with a ‘dead’ steering takes a bit of getting used to. It was not too dificult have to counter steer manually when both hands are on the wheel but it proved to be a handful (pun intended) when only using one hand when the other is on the handbrake. Having to turn almost one and a half rotations, I had developed the trucker’s style of steering while drifting.
After a few runs , I was beginning to get the hang of it and even considered a career in driving trucks…the effect of the lack of sleep was definitely hitting me at that time
Soon it came to my turn to go against Rhenadi in the best 32. We both lined up at the start and off we went. Going in at full throttle thru the gears I had noticed something was amiss; the car felt way under powered. It was too late to do anything now so I had just floor it and clutch kick my way thru the corner. The run was decent enough but I knew I should have done better. Upon reaching the start line, I shouted for the crew to check on the car , then only did my crew realised that they had forgotten to turn the Nitrous bottle open!! To put the effect of this into perspective; My car without the aid of nitrous was pushing about 330WHP, with the 50hp shot of nitrous it had 370WHP. With the nitrous switch turned on but with the bottle shut, it makes the engine run at a very rich fuel mixture with retarded inginition timing, and I was only pushing in the mid region of 2ooWHP. Man, was I pissed. All those sleepless nights , all those times at the alignment shop seemed wasted because of this silly mistake. We should have taken a five-minute break for me to regain my composure, but I immediately went for the 2nd run. I had given Rhenadi a car’s length distance at the start and followed him into the initiation point. Rhenadi had intiated while i followed suit. As we approached the wall, Rhenadi looked as if he was about to lose it and had slowed the car considerably to gain control of the car. I was forced to slow down which had caused me to straighten. Rhenadi somehow managed to gain control and continued drifting with a clutch kick which I too had attempted to do. However, to my horror , I had forgotten to perform the manual countersteer as the car spun which the wheels were lock into position!!! I went on for a few meters and did a clutch kick again and the same thing happend!!!
It was then I knew my Goodyear Formula Drift Malaysia campaign was over. Frustrated, I just drove back to the pit .
It was tough to put on a cheerful face on camera after that incident but I know I had to do it
Explaining to Rhenadi’s parents on what had happened during our run
The spectators were all supportive. I really felt I let them down that day
Having been knocked out so early in the round gave me the opportunity to check out the competition first hand..
It was good to be able to meet all the fans as we all stayed back long after the event was over, signing our poster and cards. I guess I found it therapeutic as I felt a lot better after. However it was good I went through what I did as it prepared me for 2010 proved which is about to be most disastrous year yet
Oh god!! has it already been that long??? Well as promised heres the rest of the coverage of FD Malaysia 2009 ,which I thought was my worse FD yet ( This year’s Singapore FD tops it , hands down!!)
DAY 2
We all got to the track early the next day. It was a good thing that the replacement throttle had arrived as today is the offical practice followed by the qualifying session
Ming and Cheng inspecting the replacement throttle we got early that morning
1st practice had everyone in a joyous mood
everyone is raring to go
smiles all around..
except for me…:P
Finally we got the car together and I was excited to test the car without its gremlins..
everyone was doing well
The first casualty of the day
My practice time was cut short due to a leak in my manifold..
Everyone waited patiently for the judges to arrive for the 2nd drivers briefing. Djan took the opportunity to do a few facial excersise while doing so
Mad Mike’s immaculate RX7 
Another beautiful ride belonging to one of the Hong Kong drifter
Pop of Thailand pulled out a few beautiful runs during practice
Jane was consistent all day
I was getting use to the car’s handling and but the manifold started to leak again and I was losing power so i had to stop my practice mid way
Mad Mike was virtually rubbing his rear bumper on the wall all day
Cheng fixing the leak once again.
As predicted it rained
Yoong did a good run
So did Meryvn
Unfortunately, nerves got the better of Jane. She straighten on her first run and spun on her second inspite of doing so well during practice
I managed a good run and was placed third at the 1st round of qualifying. Till Djan knock everyone down a spot to claim first place on the second run. I wanted to better my first run and had attempted to rub the wall with my rear bumper…
Instead I bent everything on the car
Well I was off to the workshop and try get everything fixed …
Apparently I missed the annoucements and the post qualfying interview but I had Jane to represent me so it was ok..
Body work and kit ….check
Dyno tuned…check
err still no sight of part 2 eh? :p