GRA Round 2 occured on the 19th of September. I remember it clearly as I was rushing back from Singapore the night before, arriving back home at almost 12 midnight and then prepping for the next day. It felt like a complete rush but overall I managed to pack my folding chair, ice cooler, helmet, fire extinguisher and many other items (if you want to see a list, I made a post about it here).
Upon arrival at the location, I knew that I was pretty screwed because I had really brought the wrong tyres to the event. Whilst I had a set of new Zeknova RS606 tyres at the front, I was using a set of used Michelin PS5 tyres at the rear. My initial mental model was that if there were going to be a lot of donuts, I needed my rear to be a little worned out so I could lose it quicker. Upon looking at the course condition, it was filled with loose gravel pretty much throughout.
One of the coolest things that the team over at GRA has implemented this round is the availability of live timings. This is particularly useful information especially for drivers.
Having live times immediately allows you to see whether if you had made mistakes or find ways to improve. To set the context right, in the past, drivers would only see the time after maybe 1-2 runs. And these were printed out timings and could take maybe 1-2 hours after. With the new system, it was a very happy welcome.
After a quick drivers briefing, we all proceeded with the course walk. With the layout in hand (usually on our mobile phones), we would get 15 minutes to familiarize ourselves with the course.
The course walk is one of the more crucial elements for GRA because not only do you get to inspect the course but also experience it. One of the key things I would keep an eye out of is the condition of the surface at certain areas. For example, the first chicane was literally covered in sand. So if you were to use your standard braking points there, you would definitely overshoot (which I did in my first run).
I was given the number 9 for this round (previously 67) as I had completed the last round and received a higher position this time. So usually the numbering system follows the seeding. Mind you, this was my second round in GRA using the Toyota GR Yaris.
Let’s talk about the car, I am running the Toyota GR Yaris gen 1. Everything is stock except for the intake (I am using a Infinity Design cold air intake) and also running the HKS Super Turbo exhaust. Technically the exhaust is heavier than the stock exhaust so I don’t really know if that was an upgrade. There are no power mods, no remap and no suspension upgrades. One of my challenges is to manage body roll and grip throughout the course.
Due to the loose surface, I really did wish I had mudflaps installed. My current ones only are for the front two tyres and they are quite small indeed.
Also glad to see is the upgrade of the timing MPV. Previously it was an older Estima but this time, Ian went all out to get a nicer and bigger MPV. The reason for this is of course for his wife who helps us with timing throughout the runs.
In total, I completed 6 runs throughout the day. This would mean that they would take the best 3 runs and average out the time. Thankfully I managed at least 3 clean runs. The timings in red indicated that I hit 1 cone along the way. Hitting a cone results in a 2 second penalty. Also on my second run, I tried pushing the car too much but lost grip and ended up in reverse through a gate. All in all, still pretty glad with the overall results but I know I can definitely do better.
I managed to get 2 trophies, the fastest novice in my class (OD) which is the open class where the turbo cars are usually are and overall 2nd in class OD trophy as well. Happy that I managed to get the trophies but in all honesty, some of the better drivers couldn’t make it. Also I was 5 seconds away from the fastest car (also in my category). That honour went to Wilson who drove the Focus RS and he drove all the way from Singapore to attend the event. Big congratulations!
I managed to record one of my runs during the event, do check out the video below.
Here is a video of some drone shots I took whilst waiting for my turn in between runs.
Sometimes whenever I have delusions of grandeur, I look at this video again and again.
