Alongside the Euros – this round initiated a special category founded by VW Wing Hin Autohaus and VWClubMalaysia.com at TIMETOATTACK to showcase the Volkswagen’s cult abilities on Sepang. With competition in the Euros pushing even harder than ever before – the VW buds mobilized a fight of their own, between friends to rank who is the fastest of them all
Split in two categories – the 2.0-above featured hot hatches like the GTIs and Rs matched up against the Sciroccos and a 2.0 Beetle too, which was seemingly unexpected for many. At the same time, the 2.0-below category featured the VW 1.4 TSI cars, sporting the likes of the Polo GTI, Golf and Scirocco 1.4 TSI that were in attack mode. As the track begin to slowly dry up in their first stint, these pocket rockets were primed and ready to hit the track to seek that magical time.
And when night fell – many were facing visibility issues due to the unfamiliar surface and surroundings, despite the grippier tarmac when dried up. Nevertheless, this was how the competition went…
The 1.4 TSI engines are capable engines, with some of them being able match power figures from the likes of the 2.0-litre GTIs!. The TSI’s 1.4L small, twincharged engine derives boost from turbocharging and supercharging. Although at stock, they are not as powerful as the GTIs, a modded iteration could easily put up a strong fight against a bone-stock 2.0-litre turbocharged engine in the right hands! But Sepang demands more than just capable engines, with a mixture of fast bends and long straights, the 1.4s are still short of carrying that much needed speed.
In the 2.0-below category, 2nd runner up position went to Brendon Lim in his VW Polo GTI. Returning a time of 2:51.198, it was only a full second slower than the 1st runner up; Joshua Lee who returned a time 2:50.173 in a Scirocco TSI. This category was solely ruled by the sportier, and much stiffer Sciroccos as the winning title ran to Eugene See in another Scirocco TSI. He broke the 2:50 barrier and returned a time of 2:49.621 around the challenging Sepang in the dry.
The 2.0-litre engines were much more diversified – with the GTIs and Rs challenging the skills of the driver. Packing more than enough punch to catch a sub 2:45 time around Sepang means it all boils down to the driver and how their cars are tuned to match. Whilst the Rs have power on their belt, they are heavier than the front-wheel driven GTIs; so the fight was no doubt extremely competitive.
Placing 2nd runner up was Calvin Wan in his VW Scirocco GT with a time of 2:43.938. The gap between the next runner up was a whole 2 seconds over ran by another VW Scirocco GT returning with a time of 2:41.854 driven by Gary Tan. Appearing twice in a day of TIMETOATTACK with a Volkswagens was William Ho, driving a VW Beetle 2.0 in this category finishing with a time of 2:41.558, a mere 0.3 of a second quicker than the 1st runner up. No doubt it was a surprise for many seeing a Beetle topping the charts at TIMETOATTACK 2013 Final Round.
Seeing the VWs fighting against time showed a highly competitive rivalry against an almost similarly matched cars. Although the conditions may not have favoured many – with the damped surface in stint 1 and low visibility in stint 2 in the dark, many returned with a smile in enjoyment. Competition aside, it was more of having fun and it became a story for most to bring home.
VW 2.0-Below
1. Eugene See – VW Scirocco 1.4 – 2:49.621
2. Joshua Lee – VW Scirocco 1.4 – 2:50.173
3. Brendon Lim – VW Polo GTI 1.4 – 2:51.198
VW 2.0-Above
1. William Ho – VW Beetle 2.0 – 2:41.558
2. Gary Tan – VW Scirocco GT – 2:41.854
3. Calvin Wan – VW Scirocco GT – 2:43.938
