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Group Photo of the Novarossi Cup Participants |
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There were two classes in this event: 1/8th and 1/10th on-road. This is the third annual running of the Novarossi Cup in Malaysia and I believe it is turning into a pretty grand on-road event in Malaysia. Participants came from all over the South East Asia region - Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. There were 50 participants in the 1/8th class and 70 participants in the 1/10th class.
The event was a 3-day affair with Friday being the practice session. On Saturday we ran 3 heats and on Sunday we completed the last heat. In the final qualifying standing there was a total of six NT1 cars in the finals. A fantastic performance of the drivers with their NT1s!
Qualifying positions for NT1 were:
2 â“ Meen Vejrak (Thailand)
4 â“ Emeel (Malaysia)
5 - Andy Dass (Malaysia)
8 â“ Sadikin (Indonesia)
9 â“ Danny Hendarto (Indonesia)
10 â“ Leonard Ong (Malaysia) |
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Team XRAY drivers from Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia |
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On the day of the finals there was a short (and quite customary of the Malaysian tropical weather) blessing from the rain Gods. It didnâ™t last long and within 2 hours with the help of all fellow races we managed to dry the track and continued racing. That put a smile on everyoneâ™s face. The race director decided to reduce each final by 10min as it was getting late. Eventually we finished all finals before the sun set.
Most of the drivers who were using the NT1 were extremely pleased with the car as it had excellent racing qualities. The NT1 cars had tremendous cornering speed as well as great overall stability⦠something not easily found. |
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cars |
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| A Finals |
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Sadikin did very well with a grid position of 8th and eventually finishing a fantastic 2nd.
Meen was doing extremely well in front, swapping 1st and 2nd positions with Azri in the early stages. He eventually led in the middle of the race. Unfortunately, he miscalculated his tyre compound and diameter which ultimately caused him to finish 8th. He was on bare plastic rims by the end of the race.
Emeel, who qualified 4th, had trouble from the very beginning as he had only 3 screws holding his engine down even before starting the race. Within a few minutes of racing, his spur stripped. He came in for the fix and that put him behind the pack. |
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XRAY drivers (L-to-R: Suh, M.Shah, and Emeel) at control practice session on Friday |
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Leonard Ong was giving his all, putting him in 4th early in the race but tyre wear dropped him down to 5th.
I had my engine flame out on the starting grid and by the time I got back into the race I was already a lap down on the pack. The obligation to give way was always a pain as I was now the back marker from the very start of the race. It didnâ™t help one bit when my engine flamed out again in the middle of the race. But I guess thatâ™s the nature of racing.
Final results:
1. AZRI AMRI
2. SADIKIN - XRAY NT1
3. SURUTH
4. DANNY - XRAY NT1
5. LEONARD ONG - XRAY NT1
6. BADRUL
7. ANDY DASS - XRAY NT1
8. MEEN VEJRAK - XRAY NT1
9. EMEEL - XRAY NT1
10. MIZAN
I hope that all the NT1 drivers will continue to show the same awesome results in the coming Asian events. |
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1/10 GP âśAâť main Podium Finisher; Sadikin, Azri, Suruth |
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| XRAY NT1 first race with Leonard Ong puts him into the âśAâť main 5th position. He is tremendously happy with his luxury XRAY NT1 performance. He had stopped GP racing for more that 2years and now the â Luxuryâ™ NT1 allowed him an awesome come back into to Nitro scene. Congratulations!! |
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Leonard Ong |
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Top 10 drivers (L-to-R): Leonard, Danny, Sadikin, Mizan, Suruth, Andy Dass, Emeel, Badrul, Meen, an |
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Afternoon washout on Finals day |
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Andy Dass, Norazam, and Badrul |
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Emeel, Malaysia Team XRAY Driver |
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Andy Dass in control practice session |
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Participants from East Malaysia and Taiwan |
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Thailand participants |
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Technical inspection crew |
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Tyre-truing area |
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Many Thanks to the President of RCAC club, Mr.Haji Yusri Aziz |
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