Category Archives: Posting by Ariff

Dusting off the old S13

I’ve had her for over 11 years now n she had gone through many incarnations to what we here. I have taken a 2 year hiatus in competitive drifting n she has been under the covers ever since.

A drive (drift) around the block was all it took to convince me that I won’t be changing a thing about her…then again the Nitrous system will have to go to accommodate the new rulings in drifting!

AW Drift Session 4.0 at MAEPS Serdang 22nd Jan 2017

AW Drift, the premier Drift event/competition organiser  in Malaysia, was founded in 2015 by Wanbra , Cheryl Chew and yours truly when we saw a lull in drifting activities in Malaysia. We started off by doing a 3 round competition in 2015 and a hugely successful 5 round series the following year. Upon seeing this , other organizer begun to follow our path and  started doing their own drift competitions , which is great for the sport and industry as a whole.

Besides competitions, AW Drift Events does organize drift sessions that allows drifters to have some seat time , test out their machinery or just to have fun!

Our first session for 2017 was held on the 22nd of January. We had a total of over 30 drifters! With a mixture of cars , from 1.6 NA to powerful tricked out 3 liters Turbo engines , they were all there going sideways during this fun session

 The course layout for that day was altered in order for all levels of skills and machinery power to be able to closely let alone to drift the whole course Speaking of skills we had a wide range of drifters from 10 years to just started drifting in this session!I

The course was wet periodically made wet to make those with lesser power to be able to keep up with the powerful ones but most importantly to save on tire wear which significantly keeps the cost down!

 Long drift trains are a common sight during our drift events And usually it comes with some fender rubbing which most of the drifters take it as part and parcel of the sport

Photos by Anjang Adien

Stay tuned for more upcoming events at AW Drift Events facebook page

www.facebook.com/awdrift/

Drifting 101 (Introduction to Drifting) 1st lesson of the new year 2017

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The conclusion of GAS Gymkhana Series 2016! Bring on 2017!

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GAS Gymkhana series 2016 held its final round of the series on the 18th December 2016.Using MAEPS ,Mardi Serdang as the venue for all its 5 rounds, GAS which is on its 2nd year of running is proud to be instrumental in reviving the sport of Gymkhana in Malaysia, with other organisers now running similar events with many using GAS as the template for their events for rules n regulations and also for categories.

FB_IMG_1484193335898This is commendable considering that this a self funded event with a very small team!

However, we attribute our success to the undying support the Gymkhana community had given us.Words of encourgements n valueble advice were used to guide us throughout this past 2 years! FB_IMG_1484193365442We were privilged to have Gymkhana celebrities such as Mitch Chong who was our course judge for the past couple of events ,lending a hand and also Mickey Teoh in helping us promoting our humble event!

FB_IMG_1484193350846And of course, those who participated in our events played an important role in making this event a success

FB_IMG_1484193359167Participants like Abdul Halim who had not missed a single GAS event every since we started! This is a participant that has to travel 8 hours to just participate as he resides in Kuala Terengganu! We are most fortunate to have him in our events!FB_IMG_1484193425931

  • The beauty of Gymkhana, with the multiple categories being contested, is the mixture of cars contesting; not only there are varieties in drive trains but also the state of build! From the stock show room standard to the stripped out purpose built cars can be seen competing!FB_IMG_1484193411489We have participants such as Mr Chow, in his stock standard Proton Wira , who placed 2nd in the Front Wheel Drive Road Legal Category,FB_IMG_1484193392337And we have En Fadly Hashim in his purposed built race Proton Satria!
  • The following are some shots taken during Round 5!FB_IMG_1484193437966FB_IMG_1484193322891FB_IMG_1484193416579FB_IMG_1484205487238FB_IMG_1484205507991FB_IMG_1484205529422Please check out GAS Gymkhana Facebook page at www.facebook.com/GymkhanaAutoXSeries/ for more pics and updates

2013 Final quarter recap

It is  apparent that I have not kept to my promise of being more regular with this blog but there’s always this year..Anyway, due to our extremely busy work commitment , Jane and I were only able to join a handful of events but we are glad to say that we have been fairly successful in representing  our sponsors in particular GT Radial Tyres through their distributors sole here in Malaysia , Heap Joo.

Speed Fest @ Elite Speedway 19th August 2013

Held at Elite Speedway, I was placed in the open class turbo category and had a ball ripping through the course in my road s13. Eventually all good and fun things have to come to an end and I placed 2nd in my category!

Result

Open Class Turbo

2nd Place ARIFF JOHANIS AHMAD Team GT Radial Sync Optima

 

Federal PRO AM Drift Challenge Round 4 @ Speed City  14th Sept 2013


Round 4 was fairly important round in this championship for me as this was supposed to be the perfect opportunity for me to narrow the gap with the Bullzai who was currently at 1st place. A higher placing than him will allow me the lead or at least an easier fight on the 5th round to be champion. With the newly equipped  GT Radial  Champiro Sx2 , the car felt fast and was perfect and practice went well . Unfortunately during my very last lap of practice , while following a competitor, I had crashed into him when he hit the wall . This caused my front knuckle and tie rod to bend and damaged the front rim during the impact. We managed to change the rod but weren’t able to get the alignment done in time hence having the car wanting to veer to the left and had to qualify in that condition.

During the 1st lap of qualifying , I lost 3rd gear when the gear broke in mid drift. I was about to abort the 2nd run when I decided to just do it in 2nd gear. Thankfully I did decent and managed to qualify 2nd position

Jane did  well in qualifying and managed to get into the top 16 position. Unfortunately  was knocked out early in the best 16 tandem and hence placing 16th in round 4

Tandem went by without much drama and it appear that drifting in 2nd gear with a 4.7 final drive wasn’t much of a problem as I was keeping a close watch of my rev and making sure to feather the throttle as much as I could while drifting. However during the semi finals against Mervyn Mohd , after having a huge lead while leading , Mervyn had crashed into the tire barriers leaving me no room to go but into him. This caused my rear knuckle, suspension, subframe and rims to damage, rendering my car useless to fight the finals.I was extremely disappointed being unable to go against Bullzai in the finals as a win would put me in a better placing for the championship , alas  I was awarded 2nd place and that was how it was.

RESULTS:

2nd Place ARIFF JOHANIS AHMAD Team GT Radial Sync Optima

16th Place AZRINA JANE AHMAD Team GT Radial Sync Optima

Malaysia Super Lap Battle Rd 1 @ Elite Speedway  29th Sept 2013

Having a free weekend and wanting a refreshing break from drifting ,I decided to join the Malaysia Super Lap Battle held at Elite Speedway. I brought my trusty road S13 for this event, equipped with 245/40/17 GT Radial SX2 on all corners and was placed in the Category 5 class which is for turbo charged full interiored street cars. This category was fiercely contested with me only able to inching into first place at the very last run. Good fun with really good tires , I would say!

RESULT

STREET TURBO CLASS

1st Place ARIFF JOHANIS AHMAD Team GT RADIAL Sync Optima

 

Federal PRO AM Drift Challenge Round 5 @ Speed City 9th November 2013

The massive crash I had on round 4 had me with running on new front  and rear knuckles. These knuckles are fairly new in the market and needed to be tweaked further which was the agreement I had with the manufacturer as I was to be developed them with my inputs and suggestions. Due to the  unavailability of drift areas and the  temporary closure of Speed City KL, I was unable to test them prior the event and were only able to use them during the final. All I could say was it didn’t really suit my style of drifting and it certainly showed during the whole of his event. Glad to say we have tweaked the  knuckle’s dimensions making them perfect.

Round 5 was also the time when I had the opportunity to test out the GT Radial SX2. Since there were a bunch of left over SX2’s , from 60% to 80% tread left. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to test these tires out in a competition setting.

The heavens opened during qualifying and proved to be fairly tricky to a lot of drifters. The SX2 tyres performed flawlessly on the wet track earning me 2nd position during qualifying. Jane did just as well with a 4th placing qualify result. She had nailed the course perfectly tackling all the points and zones!

Tandem is something she would have to work on as she had to bow out during her best 8 battle against Mervyn.

The impressive thing about the GT Radial SX2 tyres is that the compound used makes the tyres still grippy even as much as 60% thread wear. This makes these tyres stand out against all the other tyres in the market now. However, due to the lack of thread, water dispersion was an issue when there is standing water . During the early part of the tandem battle when the track surface were evenly wet , I had no problem adapting with this issue but during my top 8 battle when there were uneven patches of water on the the drying track, I was met with sudden under steering or over steering whenever I go over them. I struggled throughout and barely beat Bullzai in the top 8 round.  However, I had to succumb to Wan Jo during the top 4 battle as I was all over the place during our fight. I managed to win the 3rd place tandem but  it was not enough for me to improve my overall position and had to be content with my 2nd place overall standing.

RESULTS

3rd Place ARIFF JOHANIS AHMAD Team GT Radial Sync Optima

7th Place AZRINA JANE ABDULLAH Team GT Radial Sync Optima

FEDERAL PRO AM DRIFT CHALLENGE SERIES 2013 OVERALL RESULT

2nd Place ARIFF JOHANIS AHMAD Team GT Radial Sync Optima

8th Place AZRINA JANE ABDULLAH Team GT Radial Sync Optima

 

Kementerian Belia dan Sukan Drift Challenge Finals 23rd Nov 2013

Due to the clashing of dates and our work commitments, Jane and I were unable to join any of the KBS Drift event  except for the finals which was held at the Speed City. Having sorted the cars handling and given fresh pairs of GT Radial SX2 tyres to compete with,I felt good going into this event.

I managed to qualify 3rd with Jane getting 9th position. Tandem was a straightforward affair but during the top 4 battle I did a silly mistake and spinning while trailing Mah Lao during our battle, This is the classic case of ;no one’s fault but mine. Mah Lao is a student and a good friend of mine and losing to him has allowed him to not allow me to hear the last of it!

RESULTS

3rd Place ARIFF JOHANIS AHMAD Team GT RADIAL Sync Optima

9th Place AZRINA JANE ABDULLAH Team GT RADIAL Sync Optima

 

ZEROTOHUNDRED TIME TO ATTACK FINALS 2013 30th Nov 2013

1480743_541629575925603_749697687_nZerotohundred time attack competition  is one of the most talked about timed race event in Malaysia. With competitors from Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, this highly anticipated would be a great way to showcase the GT Radial Champiro SX2 tyres. With the success of the SX2 tires during another time attack event called MegaLap, having podiums on literately ever category, the same would be expected from us in this event1471229_354308214713548_520898163_n

I had 265/35/18 sized SX2 on all four corners on my road going S13 for this event, which surprisingly had no tyre clearance issues .Being a full interiored street car , I was placed in the Street Turbo class .9tro_120413_034320_img_1822

Jane with her drift setup 180sx was running 235/45/17 fronts and 245/40/17 rears for this event was placed in the Time Attack Machine category due to her stripped n caged car.1545666_631474523567595_302504853_n

It rained heavily prior to our run basically rendered our times fairly useless on the slipperly wet surface. However I was developing huge power drop as the turbo manifold had begun to leak. This was apparent by flashes of back fire flames not only from behind the exhaust pipe but also flames coming out from beneath the car engine bay! Being slippery, the lack of power didn’t effect me too much but when the track dried up during our second timed section on top of the worsening leak of the manifold, I had truly suffer from this. On my first hot lap , I was held behind by traffic but on my 2nd lap I had a clear run to get my best time. Unfortunately the manifold gave way at turn 7 forcing me to run without any turbo boost for the rest of the 8 turns. Ironically that run was my fastest allowing me to be placed 3rd fastest in my category!! Jane did fairly well with a 4th placing in her class too.1476038_541765562578671_516791971_n

Results

OPEN STREET TURBO

3rd Place ARIFF JOHANIS AHMAD TEAM GT RADIAL Sync Optima

TIME ATTACK MACHINE

4th Place AZRINA JANE TEAM GT RADIAL Sync Optima

 

All in all it has been a good year for Jane and I. Being absent from competitive drifting back in 2012 , it is good to be competing again. This year also sees me getting back into time attack events which I hope to eventually lead me back into circuit racing. Thank you for everyone who had supported us through 2013. These results all belongs to you!

Ariff Johanis Ahmad 2013 Results

Federal PRO AM Drift Round 1- 6th Place
Federal PRO AM Drift Round 2- 3rd Place
Federal PRO AM Drift Round 3 – 1st Place
Speed Fest RD2 Time Attack – 2nd Place
Federal PRO AM Drift Round 4- 2nd Place
Malaysia Super Lap Battle Round 1 cat 5- 1st Place
Federal PRO AM Drift Round 5- 3rd Place
Federal PRO AM Championship 2013 Overall – 2nd Place
KBS Drift Challenge Finals- 3rd Place
ZerotoHundred Time To Attack FINAL Street Turbo 2WD- 3rd Place
Azrina Jane Abdullah 2013 Results
Zerotohundred TimeToAttack Final Round 2013 Time Attack Machine category- 4th place
KBS Drift Challenge Final 2013 – 16th place
Formula Drift Pro-Am Malaysia Champioship 2013 – Overall 9th place
Formula Drift Pro-AM Malaysia Round 5 – 7th Place
Formula Drift Pro-AM Malaysia Round 4 – 16th Place
Ultra Racing Gymkhana Challenge ASN 2013 – 1st place for Lady Category
Racepod Round 4 – 8th place
Racepod Round 3 – 13th place
Formula Drift Pro-AM Malaysia Round 3 – 18th Place
Formula Drift Pro-AM Malaysia Round 1 – 22th Place