Super GT 2010: Day 1

19th June



There are some motorsports events that I wished to be able to cover at least once in my lifetime: F1, D1, MotoGP, WRC and Super GT. Thanks to some help and arrangement from friends, I manage to finally tick 1 off that list. Round 4 of the Super GT series took place from 18th to 20th June at the Sepang Circuit and I was there with a media pass.

Skipped the 18th as it was mostly practice session for the support races while the GT cars only went out on Saturday. So that's officially Day 1 for me. I arrived late at the the track with just minutes before the start of Practice 1 so I walked over to Turn 4 and Turn 5 from the parking lot and started shooting.



The new Honda HSV 010: A beautiful car indeed. It also marks the end of NSX in the Super GT series.


After the end of Practice 1, we hitched a ride on the Media Shuttle back to the Paddock and pay the pit a visit. I was surprised to see this logo on the pit board. EVA rocks!!


Matching color scheme on the bodywork on the GT car.


A well known name in the GT series..


Crew members hard at work, oblivious to the crowd outside..






Highlights of the Super GT: Appearance of the GT Queens!!










Hey, that's a Sony!!


After the pit session, it was time for a quick lunch followed by the Qualifying session. Went over to Turn 14 where a friend served me some heavy duty gear poison: D2Xs, D3s, 70~200mm f2.8 and the superb 300mm f2.8... I absolutely fell in the love with the 300mm. The speed and the sharpness was mouth watering!! Luckily I can't afford the thing so I'm gonna just put in there in my wishlist..














After Q1, it was a 1 hour break before the Q2 Super Laps were the 8 fastest cars from each class go out for another run to determine their starting grid position.




CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R driven by Tsugio Matsuda and Ronnie Quintarelli took pole for GT500 class with a best lap of 01:57.409


For GT300 class, JIMGAINER DIXCEL DUNLOP F430 took pole with a best time of 02:09.167


With the end of Q2, it was time to call it a day and prepare for Race Day..

Goodyear International Drift Series

12th & 13th June

After the recent FX Open drift event, I was itching to get another chance to shot some drift action. The Goodyear International Drift Series took place in Putrajaya during the weekend and I wasn't going to miss it. However, when I arrived at the venue, I was dissapointed by the track layout and the spectator viewing arrangement. Unless you're paying for the grandstand tickets, there's really no point of going. There were fences surrounding the track and lot's of the good spots were off limits. If it was bad for a spectator, it was even worse for a photographer.

I went to the Media tent and ask around for a photographer pass. Luckily, the nice folks from Goodyear was willing to accomodate my request and gave me media access. Hooray!!! GO GOODYEAR!!!

The rain had just stopped and the track was still quite damp. The cars were going around for their practice runs.




Hashiguti Anderson from Brazil, smooth driving style..


Michael Gan in his Skyfiro..


Fanga Dan in his RB26 powered Holden from New Zealand was the crowd fav with his superb car control and smoke show...




Due to the slippery track conditions, lot's of drivers were caught out and spun on the 1st corner. The biggest casualty was from Team Touge Motorsport , crashing heavily on his 1st run on track..


The force of the impact was so strong that 2 concrete blocks were knocked down..


New hatchback design..


For the rest of the session, more cars fell victim at that same spot..






Day 2 started at 10am with another practice session..






Turn 1 continued to be a tricky spot as more drivers failed to clear it safely..


"Ooopppsss!!!!"


"I wonder how much this is going to cost..."


Seconds to impact..




Fanga Dan continued his superb form..


while local fav. Tengku Djan lost out early in the competition. Fresh from winning the FX Open, this was indeed a huge upset. Maybe it's his new car..


Another local fav. Ah Fai was also in superb form all weekend but was no match for the Holden in the semi final..




The other semi was between 2 AE86 driven by Tan Tat Wei and Ivan Lau...


Ivan Lau took victory to set up a final clash against Fanga Dan..


Before the final, Ah Fai and Tan Tat Wei went head to head for the 3rd / 4th placing shootout. It ended when Tan crashed his car in to the barrier in dramatic fashion..


The final run turned out to be a rather low key affair. Ivan Lau overtook Fanga Dan and was penalized for it. (Formula Drift rules does not encourage overtaking unlike other drift competition)


For the 2nd run, Fanga Dan kept his cool and completed his run safetly. The win was in the bag..