BORN TO BE WILD-RALLYING THAT IS..

Rally racing never seems to interest me as I am all football (MANU BABY!!wtf) and sometimes badminton kinda guy but the chance to cover the Motor Image Racing Team (MIRT) and their star racers; three-time Asia Pacific Racing Championship (APRC) champion Cody Crocker and first ever female driver Emma Gilmour was a very different and rewarding experience indeed.

I went to the MIRT media preview not knowing what to expect but I was blown away by the sight of the new MY09 Subaru Impreza WRX STI car. Let me tell you, it is an impressive piece of contraption.



Seeing the racers and the car in action was damn impressive but being in the passenger seat while they are doing all the stunts was simply awesome and spectacular!!! They are going at top speed on some rough palm oil plantation soil with rarely doing any brakings.



There was this one time when Cody was turning a corner at top speed and I felt like I was really going to fly ala on a rolly coaster ride. Suprisingly, i made it through. Not because of luck but the folks at MIRT is strict on safety measures. Yours truly had to wear a helmet (made me look like a bloated pumpkin wtf,hahah), and to top it all of, a safety belt that literally strapped me in the seat.


Cody and me (far left..can barely see me) about to take a ride in the Subaru Impreza.

As a bonus, the racers themselves were humble and easy going. It made it easier for me to interview them. Cody for one, even had a good sense of humour. While he was driving the car at top speed, for the sake of making small talk I asked him-'So how long have you been doing this? (in nervous,almost scared voice, wtf) and he replied-'oh since six days ago (in thick aussie accent) after a pause he said-'Just kiddin mate, its been so many years and you have nothing to worry about'(with a slight giggle).

Now on the car. The MY09 Subaru Impreza WRX STI is simply built for a variety of rough terrains and simply put-SPEED. On the market it can cost almost RM250,000 and so the chance to ride it was too hard to miss.

After that wonderful experience, I had to write a feature story on Emma Gilmour. Fun over and now to work. I was cracking my head on how to do the story as I had never did a feature story before this.



I dwelled upon it for up to three days before i spent last Tuesday night and best part of Wednesday afternoon finishing it (for the record its the longest I ever took to finish a story). Nervously, I begin to imagine the criticism and harsh words that would be uttered by the Startwo editor.

However, when I called her the same Wednesday night, she told me that she really liked my intro (the starting of a story) and I began to feel a little bit relief.

The intro is like this- Listening to Sweet Child Of Mine by Guns N Roses just before races might calm her nerves, but rally driver Emma Gilmour is all adrenaline once she revved up the engine.

Not bad for someone who never did a rally story or a feature story eeh? (blowing my own trumpet wtf).

I guess all the hard work paid off because the article was finally published in The Star's StarMag today (Sunday, March 1).

Oh yeah, my photographer and I spotted a Subaru crew member who looked like our colleague Eng Hock, hahah wtf. I even took a picture with the guy just to show the actual Eng Hock,haha.




All in all, it was a rewarding experience and I don't mind doing such article again...but not so soon please,hehehe.

Check it out, below is the story.

my story