Sepang – Race 1 in Round 3 of the Toyota GAZOO Racing Malaysia VIOS Challenge unfolded in the form of fierce and spectacular battles on track which transformed a semi-endurance 1-hour race into a sprint race from start to finish.
The explosive competition on the full 5.543km breadth of the Petronas Sepang International Circuit was intense across all three categories of racing: the Super Sporting Class for professionals; the Sporting Class for amateurs; and the Rookie Class for Toyota GAZOO Racing Malaysia’s Young Talent Development Program graduates.
In the Super Sporting Class, Amer Harris was pole to P1 (pole position to victory) making his comeback to the series that had once been instrumental in propelling him to the higher classes of local and international racing.
“It’s great to be back racing here and being away from the normal stress,” said the former Rookie Class graduate.
“I had good pace throughout the race and tried to open up a lead which at one point was about 2.9 seconds ahead of Axle Sports’ Aman Nagdev but a problem with the transmission midway through the race meant I had to do all that I could to bring the car to the finish. In the end I crossed the finish line barely a second ahead.
“I hope to keep this momentum going into tomorrow’s second race. This is important because this weekend’s round offers double points and if I can do well here as well as in the fourth and final round, I stand a good chance of finishing in the top five positions in the overall championship. That is my target considering I missed the first two rounds of the season”
The race which saw all 37 racers flagged off in a rolling start began in dramatic fashion as soon as the lights turned green. Despite starting from third on the grid, veteran driver and Laser Motor Racing’s Eddie Lew was abruptly sent into the wall immediately after the start-finish line which suspended the race action under safety car conditions to allow the removal of the wreckage.
Racing resumed after two laps behind the safety car with Amer of KMS 333 Motorsports leading ahead of Nagdev, followed by Telagamas Toyota’s Freddie Ang in tow in third position. And that was how the top three positions were reflected in the final results.
In the Sporting Class, the clashes were even more furious involving no less than four drivers taking turns to lead the race – Kulim Topwheels’ Dato’ Dr Ken Foo, Sokudo Racing by ES Yang’s Nick THZ, BAE Racing by ES Yang’s Justin Toh and Hong Huat X Armada KK Racing’s Jwan Hii.
Lap 12 unfolded in the most unexpected way when that battle for the lead saw Toh and Nick making contact numerous times and subsequently ended in what appeared to be Toh pushing then race leader Nick out on to the gravel. This allowed Foo to regain the lead he had lost, with Hii also moving up the ranks into second position.
Toh however, had phenomenal pace and regained the lead two laps later and the battle for victory went down to the very last lap in favour of Hii. Finishing third was renowned simulator racer Taj Izrin Aiman driving for Saksama Motorsports. Toh was later disqualified by race officials for the on-track incident which promoted Taj Izrin and Foo into second and third places respectively.
In the Rookie Class, Harkiesh Geeva was on point to win from pole position with Ian James taking second and Justin Rahul Dev finishing third. While Ian and Justin exchanged places throughout the race, Harkiesh had a clear path ahead to finish 13 seconds ahead and as high as 20th overall.
