2010 FEMCA ISTC report

This year’s FEMCA ISTC was held from the 13th to 16th of May in Brunei Darussalam, a small country in the North East of Borneo Island. Held in an air conditioned indoor stadium, the carpet track’s design was very technical. There were 2 categories, stock class 11.5T with a Team Orion handout motor and the mod open class and the event attracted about 60 drivers from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia as well as the home racers who joined both classes.

The organisers only let the racers to start practicing on the 13th, which was a good effort from the organisers to maintain fair play for everybody and not biasing the locals. Most of the racers were having problems with traction as the carpet was new and at the end of the day only a few racers had their set up spot on and started to get fast. The next day was the controlled practice day and it was apparent that local hot shot Wirawan was quick, setting the fastest time in both the Stock and Mod Open Class.

For qualifying there were 6 rounds of heats altogether for each categories, both using the best 3 rounds to determine the grid positions. In stock class qualifying, as expected Wirawan was dominant, coming out on top winning 5 out of 6 rounds driving a new Sakura Zero and it looked like it was glued to the track. He was consistently hitting 20 laps from the start and in the end only the top 3 drivers could do 20 laps in the heats.

Final Stock class qualifying top 3:
1. Wirawan – Brunei – Sakura Zero
2. Shahrin Shaikh – Malaysia – TRF416X
3. Chu Kat Sin – Malaysia – Yokomo BD5

In the modified class qualifying it was almost the same story from the Stock class rounds as the top 3 drivers were the same, only the positions were different this time. As expected the local Top racer, Wirawan was really consistent from the 1st round and managed to win 4 out of 6 rounds. This time he was driving his TRF416X. The closest person to him was the fast Chu Kat Sin from Malaysia. If there’s anybody that can dethrone Wirawan’s dominance it was him, on the latter rounds of qualifying, Chu Kat Sin was as fast as Wirawan.

Final Modified class qualifying top 3:
1. Wirawan – Brunei – TRF416X
2. Chu Kat Sin – Malaysia – Yokomo BD5
3. Shahrin Shaikh – Malaysia – TRF416X

There were 3 rounds of finals for the A main, best of 2 rounds points system, for both categories. In the stock class final round 1, from the starting tone, almost everybody got a very clean start. Chu Kat Sin quickly found his way passing Shahrin, and set his sight on Wirawan. Chu Kat Sin quickly reduced the gap between him and Wirawan. This was a very exiting battle to watch. Both drivers were very fast. Mid way through, Wirawan made a mistake overrunning the corner cones and came wide, Chu Kat Sin saw this and passed him for the lead. A few laps after, Chu Kat Sin made the same mistake and Wirawan regained the lead. The crowds were roaring cheering their local star. In the final minutes both drivers were swapping position and 2 laps from finish, Chu Kat Sin made a mistake on the straights and let Wirawan maintained his lead and won the 1st round. The local crowds were cheering like crazy.

Stock class Final Round 1 result:
1. Wirawan – Brunei – Sakura Zero
2. Chu Kat Sin – Malaysia – Yokomo BD5
3. P.Y.Tang – Singapore – TRF416X

Again in leg 2 almost all the racers had a good clean start. It looked like it will be the same battle again between Wirawan and Chu Kat Sin. But somehow Chu Kat Sin’s car was not as quick accelerating out of corners, it seem that he had a loose diff issue which was later confirmed by him after the race. With nobody to battle with, Wirawan easily won this round and became the champion of stock class.

Stock class Final Round 2 result:
1. Wirawan – Brunei – Sakura Zero
2. Chu Kat Sin – Malaysia – Yokomo BD5
3. P.Y.Tang – Singapore – TRF416X

In leg 3 it was almost a repetition of leg 2. Wirawan was in the lead from the start and never looked back. Chu Kat Sin never recovered his diff problem and let the gap open up to 5 seconds to the leader.

Stock class Final Round 3 result:
1. Wirawan – Brunei – Sakura Zero
2. Chu Kat Sin – Malaysia – Yokomo BD5
3. Noorazam – Malaysia – TRF416X

Stock class Overall Top 3:
1. (TQ) Wirawan – Brunei – Sakura Zero
2. Chu Kat Sin – Malaysia – Yokomo BD5
3. P.Y.Tang – Malaysia – TRF416X

In Leg 1 of the modified open class, from the starting tone, 2nd placed starter Chu Kat Sin had a very quick start. Into the 1st corner Wirawan had a spun and this opened an opportunity for Chu Kat Sin to moved forward and lead the race. Wirawan looked like he had a problem with his car. His pace was not as fast as before. For the rest of the race Chu Kat Sin was only battling with his countryman Shahrin whose was also very fast. In the end Chu Kat Sin managed to maintain his lead of 3 seconds and crossed the line as the winner.

Modified class Final round 1 result:
1. Chu Kat Sin – Malaysia – Yokomo BD5
2. Shahrin Shaikh – Malaysia – TRF416X
3. Noorazam – Malaysia – TRF416X

Again in Leg 2 Chu Kat Sin was a rocket when it come to starting. He passed Wirawan straight away and lead the race. Wirawan was still having problems with his car, oversteering a lot on a tight corners. This time Chu Kat Sin was left untouched at the front and lapped everybody including the 2nd place guy Shahrin. It was an easy race for Chu Kat Sin and this confirmed he is the champion for mod open class.

Modified class Final round 2 result:
1. Chu Kat Sin – Malaysia – Yokomo BD5
2. Shahrin Shaikh – Malaysia – TRf416X
3. Noorazam – Malaysia – TRF416X

Leg 3 was almost like deja vu, Chu Kat Sin car was fast off the line and went to lead the race immediately. Wirawan made a mistake and place to 4th position but this time he had solved his car problems, and he was fast. As the race went, he passed the cars between him and Chu Kat Sin and set his sight on him. He reduced the gaps drastically and almost managed to pass Chu Kat Sin. Unfortunately he hit a back marker on the straights and fall back to 4th position. With only few seconds left, he still managed to passed Shahrin for 3rd place.

Modified class Final round 3 result:
1. Chu Kat Sin – Malaysia – Yokomo BD5
2. Noorazam – Malaysia – TRF416X
3. Wirawan – Brunei – TRF416X

Modified class Overall Top 3
1. Chu Kat Sin – Malaysia – Yokomo BD5
2. Shahrin Shaikh – Malaysia – TRF416X
3. Noorazam – Malaysia – TRF416X
TQ. Wirawan – Brunei – TRF416X

In the end all the racers were treated with a dinner party and prize presentation at one of the leading hotel in Brunei Darussalam. Everybody enjoyed the race and thank the organiser for a very well organised unforgettable racing event.