The final round of TIMETOATTACK takes stride as our most hectic round yet – and with the rain coming into play in Sepang, it became an absolute game changer for our participants. Attackers faced a different challenge from all previous rounds as the Final Round in 2013 has been laid out in a different format with Heat 1 happening in daylight and Heat 2 beginning at dusk and all through the night.
With the rain suppressing the runners in Heat 1, they had just another golden opportunity in damp to dry conditions at night, however.. conditions are different in the dark thus making the entire attack an interesting challenge. As usual – the fight is split between the street and super street classes with a combination of drivetrain layout differences, from the Euros, between front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive. So who emerged victory at the TIMETOATTACK Final Round 2013?
Weather was not in favour of Heat 1, with heavy rain pouring on Sepang. However – this has never stopped the attackers from attacking the circuit. The usual suspects returns to the Super Street category, with our own avid forumer, Eugene Lee a.k.a NukeeZoid with his Megane RS250, and last round’s second runner-up Eric Yong in his white Megane RS265 fighting for grip in the wet.
The biggest fight in the Euro category remains between Wing Hin Motorsports and ExoticMods with their all-wheel drive Volkswagen MK6 Golf Rs. Both highly tuned and massively boosted to fight against time; and because of traction advantage in the wet.. it was no doubt a hands down win against the front-wheel drive opponents, despite the weight disadvantage.
The special format also means that drivers would also be attacking at night. As Heat 2 began, the sun had then sunken and the darkness crept in. With Heat 1 being canvased by heavy downpour, the drivers would have the track mostly dried up by night, however.. attacking Sepang at dusk can be vastly different. Racing lines became a guessing game for many, as the lack of sight equates to difficulty in finding the apex.
The Super Street runners had a relatively small competition between the two big attackers who had been busy prepping up for TIMETOATTACK in the recent weeks. Wing Hin Motorsports has given their Golf R better handling enhancements to further improve their time – sporting new wheels, suspension and front air splitter to match with their ProArt tuning package. ExoticMods on the other hand has gone even further with their 3-door R – giving the car a wider stance and track for better handling with a custom wide bodykit and new brakes and suspension to match. Both cars were a close match but only one led the leaderboard..
SUPER STREET EURO
1. William Ho – Volkswagen Golf R Mk6 – 2:32.834
2. Shedden Ee – Volkswagen Golf R Mk6 – 2:33.521
3. Eric Yong – Renault Megane RS250 – 2:36.304
Competition in the Street category was even tighter. With 16 drivers taking part in this run – it was a tight battle for everyone. The street runners had the same run in the wet as well in Heat 1, with many over guessing their braking points in the wet and understeering into corners. Standing at the trackside, watching these drivers learning the track in the wet gave a rather interesting spectators view.
This round – we saw many new faces in the Euros category, giving a much larger variant of cars in the competition. One that top the charts and being the most interesting is this Ford Focus ST which had spent most of its time in the recent months, reworking on suspension and chassis rigidity. However, it seems that the car was not in its top form and as such, didn’t make the top charts.
Cornelius Ee returns in his Vitamin C Orange Audi TT-S to uphold his title from his win at the last round. Confident for the win, the rain did not stop his attack, however his Quattro pocket rocket has seen faster rainy days, returning a time of 2:41.711, he managed to come as 2nd runner-up.
As the progress went through the night – the drivers became more confident with the dry track and some managed a better time in the dark. Final Round 2013 had been an interesting round for the attackers as it was more challenging, and equally entertaining for the spectators. With a tight competition – this meant that it could have been anybody’s win but as always, only the best can win and stand as the fastest runners in class! Below are the results for the Street Euro category.
STREET EURO
1. Francis Ng – Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 – 2:40.032
2. Tiew King Siang/Yeo Pang Kiat – Audi TT-S – 2:41.610
3. Cornelius Ee – Audi TT-S – 2:41.711