Moving away from the ever-lustrous Supercars – we take a look at the rear-wheel driven GT cars, which incidentally also houses the mid engined platforms, all with the constant urge to let its back end out. This round we are packed with a range of BMW M-cars and Porsche Caymans attacking the competition ground that is Sepang at TIMETOATTACK Final Round 2013.
Attacking in this segment is a competitive battle between friends – as the ///M Owners Malaysia came in a bunch of trackies who were out to set a benchmark for the unchartered ///Market for the first time. With a series of ///M cars like the classic E63 M6 and a very rare E46 M3 CSL making its way to the natural habitat. In the last rounds, the winning title fell to non other than Tengku Djan with his home made left-hand driven E36 M3 sedan. However in the final hours of TIMETOATTACK, he had to withdraw from TTA for urgent commitments unfortunately.
Leaving the ///M boys to fight against the formidable Porsche Caymans. Mid-engined, rear wheel drive setup with a lightweight construction means the Caymans had the corners in its hand. Despite it being down on power compared to the Bavarian machines, the Caymans put a tough fight against the ‘Ultimate Driving Machines’ and put up a good show for the spectators alongside.
But no doubt Heat 1 in the torrential rain meant slip and sliding in the corners as the tyres fight for grip whilst powering through. The downpour did not make it easy for the attackers braking in the wet at crucial points like Turn 1, Turn 4 and Turn 9 where surface embedded oil that had just risen, no thanks to the rain.
So.. running in 3rd placing was Adrian Lim in his 5.0-litre V10 E63 M6. With over 520bhp on tap powered through the rear-wheels, it was having a tough time struggling for grip on the circuit. Even with a set of stickier rubber fitted courtesy of Michelin with their Pilot Super Sports performance tyres, it was enough to contain the V10 monster in the wet. But muscling through the day, he managed to return with a lap time of 2:43.452
In 2nd place – Marcus Yong brought back the title in his BMW M3 E46 with a time of 2:34.775. With a gap of almost 10 seconds difference between Adrian in 3rd place, he ran the wet yet hot competition bravely against time. His E46 M3 has been tinkered and lightened for the sole purpose of road and track. At the same time, fitted with Rays G25 forged wheels that only weighs a paper light 8.5kgs, it is also tagged with all-round Brembo GTs.
We didn’t get to take a peek at whats under the hood, but we are expecting quite a checklist! Little wonder why the gap between the winner was only a half a second difference! Tough the shortened BMW Motorsport item 4:10 rear differential that it features is said to provide the M3 with a ratio perfect for Sepang.
The winning title for the GT Cars class @ TIMETOATTACK Final Round 2013 fell to Nick Mah in his very serious track prepped Porsche Cayman S. Illustrated in a white and red accented livery in reminisce of the ultimate 911 GT3 RS 3.8 – it was no doubt from the track-side, we could see the attack was relentless! Bringing home with a time of 2:34.009; the car was under full attack mode, packing a similar wing as seen on the GT3 RS and Hankook Z221 sticky semi-slick rubbers. We didn’t manage to take a peek at the car in person but the loud (probably straight-piped) exhausts hints a seriously modded package.
Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all the participants for attacking Sepang at TIMETOATTACK Final Round 2013. We look forward to see more competition in the GT Cars class next year and keep the challenge up!
GT Cars Class Results
1. Nick Mah – Porsche Cayman S – 2:34.009
2. Marcus Yong – BMW M3 E46 – 2:34.775
3. Adrian Lim – BMW M6 E63 – 2:43.452
