POWAA Kartin'

Words by: Ben - Snaps by: June

Ray Motorsports, one of Singapore's rotary-specialist garage, has been running the Ray Motorsports Karting Challenge 2013 since the beginning of the year. The championship, open to anyone and everyone who can gather a team of four drivers, was a three-part competition, with its final round mid of October.

I first heard of the competition during the 911's 50th Anniversary Event, when a friend of mine talked me into joining this second leg of the challenge. The race format for all three rounds was the same: a 2-hour, 4 drivers endurance race. From this point I busied myself into gathering three other motorheads willing enough to take it to the track with me. After a few calls and messages, the team was set: Bernie (the owner of the Black Fibre Evo X), François and Ian joined me to form team POWAA Garage.

While we were all hyped up about taking part in the race, we had one major issue: out of all of us, only Bernie had ever been on the Changi Karting Circuit's asphalt and, unfortunately, busy work schedules did not let us have enough time to go for a practice round. We thus had no choice, we were going to have to get straight in the fight on the race day. Hopefully, we thought, we'd have some warm ups or qualifying laps to help us get a first feel of the track before the actual race. We thought.

The calendar quickly flipped forward, and we were all showing up at the Changi Karting Circuit, with little to no experience of the track, readying ourselves for an epic and fun race. As we reached, pro-karts were running some open laps. While waiting for the driver's briefing, we examined the track from the sides, trying to mark out certain features of this terra incognita in anticipation to our time behind the wheel.

We were called in for the driver's briefing where we were told that there would be no qualifying nor practice laps, but instead that the teams would be arranged on the grid according to their weight, with the heaviest team starting in pole position and the lightest team lining up last. Furthermore, the heaviest driver of each team would start first, for a stint of 15 minutes minimum. Each driver had to have at least 2 stints behind the wheel, which set the race strategy to a simple 2x15 minutes for each driver.

The briefing finished, we headed back to the pits to know which go-kart we would be given, and decide on the racing order. François was starting, followed by myself, Ian and Bernie, who would thus have the honours of racing past the chequered flag. Our attention was then directed to the screen where we saw our kart number being displayed: No. 9. We quickly went to it and François got ready to drive... Until we were told the order was changed and we had kart No. 13. While it meant that we were going to start further back in the grid (whatever happened to the weight rule?), we saw the silver lining in the form of four brand new tyres on each corner of our kart.

With smiles on our faces, we settled with the lucky (or unlucky?) number 13, only to be held up once again by yet another unexplained change in kart assignment. The final change had us given kart No. 6 which, to our annoyance, had bald tyres at the rear. Chalk one up to the difficulty level. Anyway, since we had missed the first round, we were already out in terms of racing points, so we were here to make the best of it and have some fun.

The grid finally formed on the track, and the green light was given, marking the start of 2 hours of intense racing. François  led the dance for team POWAA Garage and clocked 15 minutes-worth of consistent laps, an awesome run for a first time on the track.

I was up next, and I had to remind myself to go easy for the first few laps to get used to the track.

My resolve to take it slow lasted approximately the length of the straight, following which I threw myself waaay too fast in the first corner and spun out. Lesson learnt, I really had to block out the excitement and focus on learning the track slowly...

Until the first corner of the second lap, where once again, my over-zealousness had me eat some gravels. Third time's the charm, as they say, and I finally got to stay within the width of the track. My eagerness had the team lose some precious time, and I had to make it up - until I saw the guys wave frantically by the side of the track to signal me to pit in and let Ian drive.

Driver change done, Ian sped off to discover the track. Another quarter of an hour passed and it was Bernie's time to do his first stint. At this point, the already worn out rear tyres were starting to struggle, and the kart was becoming trickier to handle, as Bernie realised. His 15 minutes fight with the kart seemed epic, and ended when François took over for his second and last run.

Once again, François humbled us with his consistency, and brought us higher up in the standings - in 10th place, fighting for 9th.

I then took the wheel again, and managed to clock some faster and more consistent laps. I was finally getting in the groove of the track, yet I was not able to improve on our standings.

Ian then went for his final stint, but with with 90 minutes of racing taking its heavy toll on the tyres, the kart began to be more and more tricky to control, and the other teams started catching up.

When Bernie got behind the wheel for the final laps, his main focus was to stay on the track without the rear kicking out.

By then, the pits were in effervescence with the non-running drivers staring at the standings shown on the screen.

As the chequered flag was waived, team POWAA Garage crossed the line in 14th position... Out of 14 teams.

Still smiling as we had made it through the 2 hours, we then headed for the prize ceremony. There, we had the surprise of being 12th in the rankings, as two teams were brought down due to penalties incurred during the race.

All in all, we had a great time, with its fair share of joy and fear, excitement and disappointment, and, well, everything that makes a team endurance race worth it!

Our minds are set, though, we'll definitely do better next time!

Mama Mia Vespas!

Words by: June - Pics by: June & Ben

Sometimes the best things in life just come to you unexpectedly. Like a nice day out at Kampong Glam lane found us right in the middle of a scooter meetup. Or more accurately, a scooter pageant. Each scooter was modified to a certain look and style, where the sky’s the limit for creativity.

Christened ‘Mods May Day cum Street Scooter Pageant‘; this pageant was organised by the Scooters Owners Group Singapore. The winners get to take away some attractive hampers and a trophy to add to the mantel place, proudly sponsored by Kampong Glam Café, IPolish the nail spa and SMR. They had rather fun categories such as ‘Antique’, ‘Standard’, ‘Modification’ and even ‘Ugly’ (cue bruised ego) in which their scooters could compete for.

1. Categories Mods: 1st – 3rd placing + Cash for Champion

2. Categories Antique: 1st – 3rd placing + Cash for Champion

3. Categories Standard: 1st – 3rd placing. + Cash for Champion.

4. Categories Modification: 1st – 3rd placing + Cash for Champion.

5. Categories Scooter Side Car: 1st – 3rd placing + Cash for Champion.

6. Cat Lambretta: 1st – 3rd placing + Cash for Champion.

7. Best "Overall Mods" Trophy

8. The most "Ugly Scooter" Trophy

9. Best "Mods Dress" Trophy men and ladies: 1st – 3rd

10 Lucky draw Prizes

A bit of history regarding one of the most iconic scooter brands in the world; the Vespa is the mechanical brainchild created by Piaggio after the World War II and the subsequent economic downturn. With the goal of producing a inexpensive mode of transportation, Vespa scooters leveraged on Corradino D’Ascanio’s mechanical engineering knowledge of the aeronautics industry.

A slightly lesser known scooter brand Lambretta, were also in the running. Also an Italy-produced line of motor scooters, its Milanese factory and rights were later bought over by the Indian government, and subsequently rebranded as Scooters India Limited (SIL).

And boy did they give their 4-wheeled cousins a good run for their money! Lines of the Scooter brand showcased a plethora of models, ranging from some older Vespa 150 GL, Vespa Rally 180, as well as some sweet young things like the T5 Millenium and a few PX series.

Quite the popular theme was the retro style in of the era which the Vespa was first known for, distinguished by its familiar pastel colours, classical full engine cowling and flat floorboard, complete with matching half helmets and riding goggles. One could almost envision Audrey Hepburn in the movie ‘Roman Holiday’ as she rides of into the sunset, scarf and smile trailing in the wind.

I particularly enjoyed looking at these cute big curves of this pristine white one with attached sidecar. It was probably a head-turner on the roads considering it was a rare sight, and I would have loved to have taken a spin in it and take it all in.

Others opted for a more dramatic flair, adding some grunge edge with darker hues of burnt orange and forest green, front wheel guard embellishments and elongated back handles. Harley Davidson bikes are so last season, I’d have me a bad-ass looking Vespa with attitude anyday!

Of course, some of the pieces were unfortunately a little more questionable; mismatched scooter parts and just way too over-embellished that one barely notices the ride anymore. One in particular had huge ostentatious cluster of headlights that looked more incredulous than functional.

As the day wound down, winners were announced and beamingly collected their much-dued prizes. But judging from the look of pride and adoration of owners, just being given the opportunity to display their prized rides to like-minded scooter fans were, in fact a win in itself.

Dodging Cones - SMSA Gymkhana Round III

Words by: Ben Snaps by: Ben

To mark the last day of the long week end of Hari Raya Puasa and National Day, I made my way down to Aviation Park Road to check out SMSA's Gymkhana Round III.

This was it, the last leg of the 2013 competition, and the chance for drivers to claim the gold in the 4 different racing classes; the FWD, RWD, AWD and Open.

While only 7 competitors were in the run for the SMSA Auto Gymkhana Series Championship, there was a healthy total of 27 competitors pitting their cars around the cones.

It was good to see drivers coming down from Malaysia to take part in the cone-dodging, and they sure put up quite a show!

Each driver was given 2 hours to qualify on each of the two circuits and clock the fastest combined time.

After a hot day in the sun, cooled down by Monster Energy drinks, the final results came out:
Class 1 was won by Sim Horng Pin in his Suzuki Swift Sports, Class 2 by Vijayraj Thanarajah at the wheel of his S15 Silvia, Class 3 saw Roland Teo and his WRX claim the fist place, and Kenneth Ang, also in a WRX, won Class 4.

Roland Teo also walked away with the overall 2013 SMSA Auto Gymkhana champion’s title.

The day was ended with a shootout which saw the top 4 drivers of Class 3 (RWD) clock the fastest time in one round. Malaysian Teoh Guan Chang Mickey showed everyone how it was done by clocking a fast 40.92 seconds with his wide body MR-S.

Ronald Teo came next with 42.40 seconds, followed by Tay Kim Hock Dan who timed 43.10s with his Lotus Elise, and Wong Teck Yew who brought his Evo 8 MRRS across the line in 56.14s.

This last leg of the championship settles it for the 2013 season, and the SMSA Gymkhana is slated to return in 2014. Rumors, however, talk about a standalone event in October or November. Stay tuned!

Half a Century of Aberration

Words by: Ben & June - Pics by: June

Media invite

Aberration: Ab-er-ra-tion [ab-uh-rey-shuh n]. Noun

1. The act of departing from the right, normal, or usual course.

2. The act of deviating from the ordinary, usual, or normal type.

3. Deviation from truth or moral rectitude.

4. The Porsche 911

The 1st of August was a special day at the Porsche Centre as they opened their doors to the media to celebrate 50 years of the aberration that is the 911. 

We've heard it before and we'll hear it again - the concept of the 911 is an aberration: a rear-engine & rear wheel drive sports car is just a recipe for disaster.

But what a brilliant disaster it is! Only the Germans could pull it off this way, and their stubbornness has certainly paid off over the past 50 years All in all, this only adds to the legend of this iconic sports car.

And to commemorate this, Stuttgart Auto gathered all generations of the 911 in front of their showroom at 29 Leng Kee Road. 

Proudly showcased was the first generation 911 that kicked off this enduring love story in 1963, sided by the G Series, that hit the road in the mid 80's.

Next in line was the 964, which first came around in 1989 under the Carrera 4 namesake. the "4" stood for 4-wheel drive, which it inherited from Porsche's rally engineering. Only a year later did the RWD Carrera 2 was offered, followed by the 964 Turbo.

Continuing the trip down memory lane was the 993, the last air-cooled of the family, with its smoother, revisited lines and improved aerodynamics. This generation once again saw the Carrera 4, all-wheel drive option offered aside from the RWD Carrera model. 

Next to it, the 996, which introduced the first water-cooled power plants, was showcasing its even smoother design which won quite a few design awards from 1997 to 2003.

The 997 was up next. This generation continued the design evolution heralded by the 996, but also looked back at the 993 for some detail cues, such as the round headlights.

Finally, showcased in the showroom was the youngest 911 to date, the 991, which hit the roads last year. Following with the smooth evolution of the 911 design, this newest form is longer and wider than its predecessors, yet lighter and more powerful, making it the perfect car for high end spirited driving.

Guests and friends of the media were treated to an array of international cusines while discussing about the latest addition to the 911 family.

To celebrate the half-century of its brilliant creation, Porsche has created a limited edition of clothes wear the the owners and enthusiasts who can't afford the beauty in the metal.

Aside from these "50 years"-stamped designs, the Porsche lifestyle section at the second floor of the dealership showcased more than enough toys to please everyone in the family!

As the event winded down to a close, we were pleasantly gifted with some exclusive limited edition Porsche collectibles. This included a gunmetal grey miniature replica of the 991-911, a moleskin notebook, a collective of retro postcards featuring the past models and a sleek silver flash drive. Indeed, their media kits were as sleek as the cars they designed. Stay tuned on POWAA Garage's Facebook Page as some of these items might make their way to you!

Head over the the Porsche dealership for your dose of German engineering, and while all 7 generations of beauties might not stay there for long, you can trust the 991 to be there to greet you personally!