History

Inspired by being a regular spectator at the Batu Tiga racing circuit in the 70’s, GR entered our first racing car in 1978, a Datsun 160J, in an event called the Series Production Race. The cars were stock standard. No modifications were allowed except on suspension and on the driver! Starting on the grids those days were mostly Ford Escort, Mazda RE, Alfa Romeo, and Mitsubishi. The Mazda RE (rotary engine) was fascinating – fast and whizzingly quiet.

The Series Production Race was a budget race, affordable by many, and an interesting event to watch and to participate. One grade higher was the Limited Formula race where some limited modifications were allowed to the engine. The highest was however the Super Saloons - with no restrictions as to the modification; a rather exorbitant amount to spend on building the car. Cars were all powered by the carburetor or rotary engines.

We remember the Super Saloons races at the Johor circuit when the cars already started their engines at the starting grids. Later we entered our Mazda RX7. When we started its engine, it totally drowned the engine noise of the rest of the other cars! Fuel injection and turbo-powered were practically unheard of then. We in fact towed the racing cars ourselves when going racing at Johor or Penang. On certain races, we managed to get the KTM to sponsor transportation of the race car, collected the following day.

The race tracks then were in Penang and Batu Tiga with the former staging it only once a year. Johor then built its own circuit at Pasir Gudang in 1985. In 1999 the multi-million dollar Sepang circuit was opened, mainly to cater for the prestigious worldwide Formula One races. We must say that many old racers do miss the Penang, Batu Tiga, and Pasir Gudang tracks which now are no more to be seen or had been sadly abandoned.

Every circuit has its own special character and racers share their own fun racing in different race environments. Penang offered street racing at the Padang Kota area. Gate crashing was common. Crowd control proved difficult and a few minor incidents did take place. Racing at Batu Tiga has its uniqueness. While right in the middle of racing, one side of the track was dry yet the other side showered with heavy rain, leaving the drivers in awe whether to continue racing on dry slicks or to switch to rain tyres!

The Johor circuit was notably interesting - the only one with gradients and tricking with blind corners. The huge Sepang circuit however welcomes the more powerful machines. Driver skill may come second. This was the starting point when we realized that racing was becoming more and more expensive. Search for sponsors is vital to surviving in motor racing, a sport regarded as the most expensive in the world.

GR’s participation and success were making impact, enough to attract MAS sponsorship. Beginning 1986, under the flagship of former MAS, then Malaysia Airlines, we raced in England, driving MG Metro, Ford Sierra Cosworth and Formula Ford 2000 single-seaters.

Racing in England was a lot of fun. The technology put in towards the development of racing leaves much to be learned. There again, you need to have a fat budget in order to race competitively. Our participation at that level was made possible under the sponsorship approval of the late Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Rahman, the then MAS Managing Director.

We moved on to race at the Pattaya circuit in Thailand and Ancol in Indonesia. Whether it is a big race or a small race, spectators at Ancol were predominantly huge in attendance. The spectators made up the “ barriers” all around the circuit!

Moving on to Macao, the oldest racing circuit in The East, since 1954, we raced in the finest 6km Guia street of Macao city. Considered the most challenging track, it has everything: fast long straight, and sharp hairpin corners. Brakes must be super good, able to endure extreme heat. Overtaking has to be accurate and possible only at that long stretch. Overtaking at hairpins are not at all permitted.

From records, no race here runs without accidents. Spectators flock to the first right-hand corner, waiting for a first-lap drama of actions! We brought our 350 bhp Nissan Bluebird turbo, bought earlier in the UK, to race here in 1990 but was of no match to the more powerful BMW M3s and Ford Sierra Cosworth.

Malaysia produced many skilled and fast local regular racers during the late 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s. Harvey Yap, Eric Ooi, YS Khong, William Mei, Yoong Yin Fah, Gary Chua, Kan Chee Hong, Chong Kim Fah, and Wan Redzmann, are some of the notable ones. The racing atmosphere then (gone were the days) was somewhat different as compared to the present large Sepang circuit.

Garang Racing Earlier Cars

We raced in various machines and we must say that it was fun and enjoyed every moment behind the wheels of the different makes of cars. It gave different feelings. The joy of racing is when you could overtake your rivals!

THE CARS AND DRIVERS, 1978 to 2021

1st CATEGORY (Under Garang Racing stable)

THE CARS

Datsun 160J, Mazda RE, Ford Escort, Alfa Romeo, Toyota Levin, Honda Civic, Nissan Cherry B110, Toyota Celica, Proton Saga, Nissan Bluebird turbo, Proton Wira, Proton Putra, Mazda 323, Mitsubishi Tredia, Super loud Mazda RX 7, MGB GT, MG Metro, Formula Ford 2000

2nd CATEGORY (Associate drivers and their cars)

Many…..! Among them are:

Sazili, Ali Kadir, the late Sudarman, Leif Norberg, Ahmad Khan, Zain Hanafiah, Ramesh, the late Faizal Shamsuddin, Munir, Izhar, Kenvin Low, Farouk, Azman Ramly, George Ong, Harry Tan, Haji Adi, Roger Stevens, Jeff Moo, Sutan Mustapha, Nasharuddin, Husna, Dato Stewart Seatter, Chew Ruoh Peng, Tony Teo, Keifli Othman, Romani de Silva, T Y Chow, Andrew A, Zizan Razak, Kelvin Ong, Baron Sim.

THE CARS

Kancil, Honda FD2, Toyota LE, Fiat 124, Porsche 911, BMW M3, Ford Sierra Cosworth turbo, Lotus Esprit, Ford Escort RS, Aston Martin, Proton Neo GT