If speed and music are things you are craving for, look no further than the SNF (Saturday Night Fever) Racing series. The series, formerly known as the Saturday Night Fever Challenge, is a grassroots-level track racing event that unites track racing and electronic dance music (EDM). The first round took place on 1st March 2014.
The race series were supported by Achilles Radial tyres and Ducatus Oil. Achilles Radial upgraded their presence in the local motorsports scene by becoming the official tyre supplier for SNF Racing 2014, via its motorsports-derived Achilles 123S tyres. Ducatus Oil has been appointed as the official lubricant, with the company’s products and branding were put into the test via this demanding race series.
The SNF series comprised 2 categories for two-wheels and 6 categories for four-wheels. The first round of the race took place at the South track of the Sepang Intl. Circuit.
In SNF Moto 150, the incumbent Champion Mohd Zaki Misman was toppled by newcomer Muhd Emran Zulkafli, the two of riders finishing just ahead of Muhd Fazli Mansuar, all astride Kawasaki Ninja 150 RR. Mohd Zaki had to fight his way up from a low-finish in the earlier qualifying heat, and the top-5 riders were flying down the main straight footpeg-to-footpeg in nail-biting duels till the chequered flag.
The new category ‘Street Tuned’ was the exciting race to look forward to as it grouped together a good mix of comparable-performance tuned vehicles, including Protons, Mitsubishis, Toyotas, Hondas, and a BMW. The drivers didn’t disappoint as they provided multiple sub-battles all through the race, but it was Phagvinder Singh in his incredibly quick Proton Satria 1.8 MIVEC that raced away when the lights turned green, never to be challenged and taking the win.
Further down, Adian Yein in his BMW 325i E30 underestimated a tightening Turn 14 in the 2nd lap, and collided with Shazli Mohd’s Proton Satria 1.8 MIVEC. This allowed Mohd Faiz Sulaiman in the Toyota Corolla AE80 Blacktop and Ahmad Nazri Minhat in the Lightning McQueen Mitsubishi Mirage CJ4A to scramble ahead. Adian gave chase, and the three caught up to the slowing top-runners Aril Hamka in his Toyota Starlet Turbo EP82 and Gan Kim Koa / Philip Tang in their Honda Civic EF9. A colossal battle saw Adian Yein emerge 2nd, narrowly beating Mohd Faiz who kept it cool to take 3rd.
Another new category that revved up the spectators’ excitement was the Proton 1800 NA category (for ‘Naturally Aspirated’ non-turbocharged cars). For the first Qualifying Heat, Mohd Abd Halim Jamalluddin was on pole with Johan Harun Jaafar next to him, both in Proton Satria GTi’s. But if you thought it would be all about the older, larger capacity, Mitsubishi-derived cars, then you’d be surprised to find the Proton Satria Neo of both Hasrin Tahir and Ifwat Ataa right behind them. But even more surprising is that ahead of the two Satria Neo was a Proton Saga Megavalve Aeroback, albeit running in the Super 1500 NA category, with owner / driver Ahmad Muzambique proving that there is a lot of fight left in this relic of the 80s!
At the start it was Halim that led all the way ahead of Johan till the last lap, where a stalling fuel pump caused his car to slow down. Johan took the win to place first for the Final Heat, and unfortunately Halim was unable to get the car started and had to sit out the Final. The opening heat also saw a crash between Mohd Azmi Yaacob and Awangku Faresman who were both trying to avoid a spinning Proton Saga Megavalve of M Attaq from the Super 1500 NA category which ran at the same time. The incident left both cars sidelined with damage and out of the race.
In the Final Heat, Johan blitzed off at the front in this 1.8L Satria but was chased hard by fellow SNF veterans Hasrin and Megat Shazreal in the Matspeed Waja. But a coming together and spin for Hasrin at Turn 14 dropped him way down. Megat went hounding after Johan but was then caught by a flying Ifwat Ataa in his Satria Neo who fought his way up from 8th to 3rd by the end of Lap-3. Ifwat and Megat were pulling out all the tricks in the book over the next 5 laps as they duck-and-dove trying to best each other. Megat narrowly beat Ifwat at the flag, taking 2nd place to Johan Harun who won the category.
The climax of the weekend was most certainly the Race Cars Class 1 category which saw some of Malaysia’s fastest, most successful racers go wheel-to-wheel, the likes of which haven’t been seen at the races in a long time since the demise of the Proton Series early in the new millennium. The presence of Boy Wong, Keifli Othman, Faidzil Alang, Faizal Hassim, and Alif Hamdan added spice to an already boiling potpourri of talented racers and powerful race cars in this category.
Alif Hamdan’s Honda Integra DC5 unfortunately was not ready in time, and he decided to run his Porsche 997 Carrera Cup car which he used to win Class B at Macau Grand Prix last year. Unfortunately the Porsche is built to run on full-slick tyres, and having to qualify on the regulatory semi-slick tyres quickly saw them wear off at an alarming rate. Although he set a new South Circuit lap record of 1m06.402, his race was done for the night.
In the Final Heat, all eyes were on whether Keifli in the FAST Autoworks Honda Civic EG6 2.0L could hold off a charging Boy Wong in his Type R Racing Honda Civic EK9 2.0L and Faidzil Alang in the Fawster Motorsports Honda DC5. Sadly Faizal Hassim’s DNT Tune Honda Civic EK9 2.0L couldn’t make the start, but would we see some new challengers emerge?
At the rolling start it was Keifli that shot into the lead, his FAST Autoworks Civic visually faster than the competition. It was a tight fight into the first corner as Boy Wong dived but couldn’t mount a serious attack. The top cars from Class 2 were snapping at Boy Wong’s heels, so quick where they: his team mate KK Soh, and Ahmad Firdaus Azman, both in Honda Civics.
Mohd Zahir Basharuddin in his privateer Mitsubishi Evolution 3 was fending off Faidzil Alang who was in battle-mode: lap after lap Zahir held tight defensive lines through Turns 12 through to 14, keeping Faidzil behind. Faidzil finally got through on lap 5, reversing the roles as it was now Zahir’s turn to pressure the experienced Faidzil. At the chequered flag, it was Keifli who won ahead of Boy Wong, followed by Faidzil and Zahir.
The next round of SNF Racing will take place on the weekend of April 26, once again at the Sepang South circuit.
[Race Report & Pics Courtesy of Ignition]
