Classic Car Club of Hong Kong (CCCHK) Race Series 2009 - Sepang Malaysia

Round 2 - May 16th/17th saw another good turn out with 25 cars entered Round 2 of the CCCHK race series. This Round was again a combined MSS (Malaysian Super Series) Cars and Bikes weekend with a similarly busy program for us, with Practice, Qualifying and Race 1 all on the Saturday afternoon.

Practice and Qualifying
The weekend didn’t start so well for some with five cars unfortunately not making it out for Qualifying, with Paul Winkelmann’s Jaguar out for the weekend; hopefully the reminder could make it out for Race 1. Normal business resumed at the front on another hot and dry afternoon with Simon’s TVR again dominating both sessions taking pole position, followed by Bertie, Nick, Daniel and Mike. The GT40’s had found some extra pace since Round 1, showing improved lap times of at least 2 seconds down in to the 1:15’s with Erwin Azizi and JP Chin qualifying 6th and 7th overall. Ian Geekie qualified at the head of Class B with ‘newcomer’ and bike racer Sheikh Fidzral heading Class C. Koh Hark Hwa qualified at the front of Class A.

Race 1 Saturday 16th
Many were caught by surprise when there was no ‘5 second’ board and the red lights were on without warning. Several drivers could be seen frantically grabbing for gears before the lights were out and the race started!

The first 4 cars got away to a clean start. Gerry’s Mustang stalled on the line then rejoined the pursuit, only to start shredding the front left tire, which somehow did not explode- Gerry finished with a few steel belts and tiny bits of rubber on the rim, but miraculously no puncture!

Daniel pushed to keep up with Simon, Bertie and Nick and made a gap from the following pack, but had no chance to catch the leaders as the Porsche’s brakes decided it was all too hard and started to find creative ways to lock up or just not work. Toward the end of the race Nick started to reel in and finally pass Bertie who was having gear lever ‘issues’ and finished the race stuck in 3rd gear but managed to hang on to 3rd place behind Simon and Nick.

The GT40’s of Erwin and JP finished in 5th and 6th place after Mike’s Corvette withdrew with fuel pressure problems on lap 1 – too much heat from the mighty V8…? Ian Geekie was out with bent steering after an incident at Turn 1. Wilson and Roy Morgan also failed to finish leaving Azman Ramly to take his first Class B victory for many races! Sheikh Fidzral won Class C comfortably from Noorazli Saad and Kelvin Davies while Koh Hark Hwa won from Brian Chan in Class A.
 

Race 2 Sunday 17th
Simon’s TVR appeared to be showing signs of stress as a crack in his gearbox threatened to derail his race and he was noticeably cautious off the start with both Nick and Bertie beating him into Turn 1. However he eventually gave the TVR some ‘stick’ and passed Bertie and then Nick on lap 4 and again cruised to a comfortable victory. Bertie tried everything to pass Nick but the Porsche was under-steering and getting wider and wider on each corner; unfortunately the Lotus’ gremlins were back and yet another broken rotor arm put Bertie out on the very last lap.

Daniel meantime had his own gearbox problems and was passed into Turn 1 by Irwin’s GT40 and Gerry’s Mustang. An epic battle ensued with Gerry getting away from the other two cars to take 3rd place but the battle between Daniel and Erwin went to the chequered flag.

Mike’s Corvette and TJ Chin came through from the back of the grid, with Mike holding off the GT40 – who say that (engine) size doesn’t matter…?

Ian’s 240Z had developed engine problems and didn’t start Race 2 which left Wilson Ning to take his first Class win (and podium!) with Azman Ramly and Andrew Crombie second and third in Class B.

Class A saw another as Brian Chan took his first Class win in his Datsun and there was yet another winner in Class C with Izmi Merican taking the honours from Philippe Volkaerts’s’ Toyota and Saiful’s Honda.