Round 5 and final round of the R3 Time Attack Championship 2006 ended on a high note yesterday evening, in the midst of tough muddy and wet conditions.
Close to 80 participants, almost half of which were made up of first-timers and novices, battled oversteer on the slippery and wet course, aptly named “Mud Pit” – an even more evil version of “Sand Pit” held at the same venue for Round 3.
Hammond “Hammer” Lai, Team Proton R3 works driver and MME 2006 podium finisher, took top honours in the North Pole category and also set Fastest Time of the Day (FTD) with a scorching 87s fastest time. Hammond had already taken an unprecedented lead in the Championships proper, and was declared winner after 4 rounds.
In the Pre-Viagra class, Andy Kow in his Perodua Kelisa staved off challenges from Clement Chan and William Chong to win with a time of 90.41s. Chan Yau Koon, finished only sixth, but the points scored this round was enough to give him top spot in the Championships.
In the hotly-contested Eat Me class, which saw a staggering 22 entries, was nail-biting right till the end. Top Championship standings in this class were separated by a mere one point, where in fact, the top two tied for top spot. Soo Sing Kuan in his EG6 Civic proved his mettle and continued his winning ways, with a scorching 87.90s winning time. Soo was consequently declared Eat Me Class 2006 Championship winner.
After one podium finish to another, one of the winningest competitors in the autocross scene, Julian “Unker Pang” Pang, rose to the occasion to win Hung Class with a fast 89.75s. Julian staved off a stiff challenge by darkhorse Jerry Chew, who was also recently a podium finisher at GRA Round 3, and Gareth Tan, Julian’s closest competitor in the class. Gareth’s EK Civic had earlier experienced engine problems and could not continue with his car. In true spirit of competition, Julian loaned Gareth his 1.8 Wira for his remaining runs. Gareth impressively set fast times for a podium finish. TTR team manager and driver, Stanley Tai, drove impressively to take 4th position, with the Khong brothers – Ian and Ivan occupying 5th and 6th positions respectively.
With 88.07s, Mickey Teoh continued his domination of Rocco class with yet another classy win and was declared undisputed champion of 2006. First timer Teoh Fon Tatt in an EVO 6 took 2nd spot with Stanley Tai, in a track-spec EVO III, the remaining podium finisher.
Mickey went on to also take the Spunk crown, wrestling it from 17-year old Dominic “Dominator” Ang, MME driver and still youngest competitor and winner, with 91.9s. Dominic had already been declared winner of Spunk in the Championships after Round 4.
As part of its efforts to promote local grassroots-level motorsports, R3 is offering an MME drive for all winners of their respective classes in R3TA Championship 2006 next year.
