From BadBoyBen: In hindsight, it was probably not a very clever thing for me to participate in Zero To Hundred’s Time To Attack, due to all the problems that I knew I had with my car.
The biggest problem for me was that 3 out of my 4 shocks were leaking badly and the one on the rear was so bad that the tyres would scrape the wheel arches every time I went over a little bump or tried to turn right.
It was also probably not very clever for me to turn up to a time attack event on 3 year-old street tyres when everyone else was on semi-slicks or slicks but then I’ve been known for making some pretty dubious choices in the past (mostly with women hehe)
However, I really wanted to show Jeremy and DC Shoes this aspect of the Malaysian motorsports scene and I think it was important for him to see how vibrant it was.
I think we’re quite lucky in Malaysia to have an international level racetrack that is open to the public regularly and for sure this is the best circuit in Southeast Asia.
Of course I was also super excited to be able to drive at Sepang for the first time.
I actually feel quite ashamed that it’s taken me so long to do so but I’ve finally done it!
More than 130 cars took part in the Time To Attack which was a fantastic turnout.
All sorts of cars entered, many from Singapore, and you could see everything from Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Audi R8s to Civic Type Rs, FD3S RX7s to Proton Satrias.
It was a great mix of cars and I was super psyched to see so many awesome cars in one place being driven the way they were meant to be.
Lotus had a strong presence at the event and many of their cars actually came straight from another 2-day hillclimb event to participate in Time To Attack!
Of course there were plenty of Imprezas as well and all of them were fucking fast. The Impreza you see in the middle with the fluorescent yellow rims was so fast that the organizers actually bumped him up to the “Time Attack Machine” category.
I felt ridiculously under prepared as most of these guys came with their own cooling fans, tools and even spare petrol whereas I just came with a spare t-shirt.
I was allocated the number 86. If only I was driving a Hachiroku then that would have been perfect …
This is Angeline, one of the organizers from Zero To Hundred. She was my main liaison before the event and was very helpful throughout.
Even with so much going on and so many cars to take care of the whole ZTH crew was super friendly and cheerful – other event organizers should follow their example!
This sick Cooper S was in the ZTH pit. Notice the “100” number. Sweet.
Hmmm … I didn’t know Vertex made drinking water???
I finally got to see the engine bay of Les Vorosmarthy’s Series 1 Elise.
Holy fucking shit! An Audi TT turbocharged engine pushing out 320hp in a car that weighs around 700kg?
Do the math and be afraid – VERY afraid.
I asked Oh Kah Beng to take me out for a couple of laps in the Evora, so I could pick up some tips as to how to attack Sepang.
He spent a couple of laps playing with a Civic Type R, outbraking, outmaneuvering and drifting around it, which was completely awe-inspiring and scary as hell at the same time.
When we came back into the pits, smoke was coming out from the brake discs.
Kah Beng gave me a lot of tips which I will surely apply the next time I am at Sepang. It actually helps that his driving style is similar to mine and we both like to dance around on the limit of the car we are driving.
I stopped after doing 2 runs in my car because my oil temperature went past 130 degrees at one stage.
I really wasn’t looking to push my car hard as I still had to be Jeremy’s guide/chauffeur for a whole week (plus drive 400km back to Penang)
Sepang is a very demanding circuit on vehicles and if you are not careful your engine could suffer a nasty failure (as some people unfortunately experienced on the day)
It was a very satisfying experience for me and I learnt more about my car that day than in the 2 years I’ve owned it.
Everyone at the event really inspired me, and my goal for 2011 is to build a sub-2 minute-28 second time attack car for Sepang.
Plans have already been put into motion for this project and I will keep you updated on the progress!
It was an amazing event and I’m sure everyone who was there would agree with me.
Mad, mad respect to Angeline Lee and everyone at Zero To Hundred for pulling it off.
P.S. Special thanks to Wingz and Tong Koh Yiaw for taking such cool photos of my car!
