Rattlezasia @ Formula Drift Malaysia 2009 - Road to FD Malaysia

FDM 2009 was dated on 19th and 20th Dec. However, our story begin a bit earlier than that. Our ace drifter, Zulfikar, and his AE86 with some crews arrived in KL on the 17th Dec early in the morning. It is final day to get the car ready before D-day. Late in the same evening, Zul send his car for tuning and few hours later, everything was perfectly done. However, on that night, we received a call from Zul saying that he was encounter a medium-major terbulance during his journey back to Klang. A screw underneath chasis to hold the dog bone to his ae86 exle was missing (err.. i dont know what to call that thing...huhu). Luckily Amat's Ke70 has the same undercariage as fit as AE86. A 1 ton jack and a few bricks the only tools to lift Zul's AE86. To fix the screw underneath his car without proper tools is one matter. Fixing the car at the motorcycle lane is another story. It was on a hiway actually. Scare like hell, scare if any motorist rush to us, specifically, his crew who help us to fix in the screw.

Then the next day (18th Dec) there is no pratice session. So we take this opportunity to attached main sponsor stickers all over Zul's AE86. The main sponsor for him was MyEG (Malaysia E-Government Service). We all get busy do that and get other thing to be ready.

Saturday (19th Dec) is the practice session. It start in the morning. It was hot without sun and wind and track condition was dry. Without warning, the sky heavily drop its tears during qualify session. Luckily no major accident occur. At the end of the day, Zul managed to finish 33rd overall right behind Zee. Just another step to reach Best 32 finalist. Maybe next year, we will send more drifters from Rattlezasia to compete in Formula Drift since we do have cars that properly setup but lack of experience. Kudos and Thanx to Zul for bring Rattlezasia to next level in drift scene.

A few competitors during Formula Drift 2009.

Hmmm... Those MYEG umbrella girls who bring the rain, I guess kekeke.

Sticking those stickers is addicted activity. Look on how concentrate they were, until tongue twisted.hehe.

Here are some of the sunday report from our buddy. Credited to Azrin.
http://freedom-spec.blogspot.com/2009/12/formula-drift-malaysia-my-experience.html

Press Released.

Tengku Djan from Team Bridgestone Malaysia manoeuvred his Nissan 180SX to top position, reigning supreme over an accomplished field of 53 hot-shot professional drift drivers at the final day of the inaugural Goodyear Formula DRIFT Malaysia held at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) on Sunday. Djan just edged out his worthy opponent Sak Nana Kiki from Team PTT Thailand in the final tandem battle, while Team Goodyear Malaysia’s ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddet, who wowed the crowd in his Mazda RX-7, came in third. Thousands of spectators poured into MAEPS from as early as 8:30 am, and were thrilled at the hot tyre-burning action as top drivers from eight countries including Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan put on a fast and furious show that rivaled the very best in the world. The two-day event saw keen competition amongst 53 drivers from across the Asia-Pacific region. All 53 drivers pushed their rear-wheel-drive cars to the limits by demonstrating impeccable precision and vehicle control to enter the ranks of the Top 32. They then faced off in one-on-one tandem battles to whittle down the driver pool to the Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final 4 and finally, the Big 2. Djan took on Sak Nana Kiki in a spectacular final tandem battle royale and with wheels screeching and tyres burning, crowd favourite The 'Prince of Drift' gained a dominant lead in what was truly a scintillating finale to two great days of high-octane action and furious competition. Title sponsor Goodyear Malaysia showcased a stellar line-up of 17 drivers, including top female drifter, Azrina Jane Abdullah, fellow team mates Ariff Johanis, Michael Gan and Johan Norman, as well as some of the top regional drifters, Japan’s Ryuji Miki and New Zealander “Mad” Mike Whiddet, both from Team Goodyear Malaysia. “Goodyear’s very first Formula DRIFT Malaysia was sizzling with red-hot action. It is certainly an honor to be part of this exhilarating event. Having such a number of international and local drivers competing only underscores our commitment to raise drifting standards to an international level,” said Richard Fleming, Managing Director, Goodyear ASEAN. “There is also a high degree of synergy between drifting, a motorsport that places strong emphasis on advanced technology and precision driving and performance tires. Our ultra high performance tires put up a fantastic showing the last two days,” he added. The Goodyear Formula DRIFT Malaysia was the climax of the three-part Formula DRIFT Series, which blasted off with the Formula DRIFT Singapore ProAm Series 2009 in July and Formula DRIFT Thailand in November. As the official event organizer and broadcaster for the Goodyear Formula DRIFT Malaysia 2009, ESPN Starsports (ESS) will produce and broadcast the event highlight program on ESS’ footprint of 310 million viewers in 24 countries, check your local cable listings.

Article of Motorsportchannel.com