A new comer, a determined rookie and the unexpected, raced to victories in three separate classes in Race 1 of Round 2 of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Vios Challenge held at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit.
In the Super Sporting Class, Laser Motor Racing’s Amer Harris made the most of pole position to bolt into the lead which he extended to 5.2 seconds by the end of the 20-lap race. Finishing second was Telagamas Toyota’s Freddie Ang while in third place was Prima Pearl TD Racing’s Mitchell Cheah.
The race momentarily brought out the safety car when in lap 2, Saksama Motorsports’ Tengku Djan Ley Tengku Mahaleel overshot his braking and came into contact with Toyotsu Racing’s William Ho going into turn 1. The safety car incident cancelled whatever advantage the race front runners had and Amer had to do it all over again.
“Coming into this weekend I didn’t really have any expectations considering it was my first time in the new third generation Vios, it was my return to the Vios Challenge and my first time racing in the Super Sporting Class. The new car takes a lot more focus to drive and in terms of braking, there is some adjustment you’ll need to do as a driver but thankfully we managed to bring it home in P1,” said Amer.
The surprise on the podium however, was Cheah who despite being a few seconds behind TD Racing’s Hayden Haikal who had been third, crossed the finish line in third place half a car’s length ahead of Hayden.
“Both Hayden and I are on the same team and this being his first race in Season 7, let me just be honest that some team strategy was at play to allow me to consolidate my position in the overall championship said Cheah who came into Round 2 with already securing one race win Round 1.
“Overall, drivers are becoming more acquainted with the character of the third generation Vios but generally we are all still very cautious as the learning period is still not over.”
Top honours in the Rookie Class in Race 1 this time went to Brandon Ho who finished ahead of Amirul Afiq and Raja Amirul Syauqat. Finishing fourth, fifth and sixth were Audrey leong, Kingston Tan and Adam Mikail respectively.
“I came away from Round 1 a little disappointed with my performance and I took some time to review a lot of on board video footages to see how I can improve in Round 2, as well as watching my diet and working on my mental and physical fitness. It really paid off and I had a good start in race 1 from pole position. I am really happy,” said the 22-year-old Ho who is one of six Rookies selected to join the GAZOO Racing Young Talent Development Program from his background as a recreational karter. He had finished in second place twice in round 1.
Amirul Afiq and moved up the podium to second place after clinching two third place finishes in Round 1, while for Raja Amirul Syauqat, it was his maiden trip to the podium.
“This is a strong result for the entire crew. I tried hard to get pole position in qualifying but had to settle for second just 0.64 seconds behind Ho, and again in the race but Amirul fought like a lion,” said 21-year-old simulator racer Raja Amirul whose racing potential was uncovered by chance when he participated on a simulator for the first time in the Toyota GR GT Cup Campus Tour 2023.
“It was hard work trying to prepare myself for Round 2 physically and mentally but I’m very happy with my maiden trip to the podium. I hope I can repeat this in Race 2.”
The Sporting Class meanwhile, saw the emergence of a new young talent, Elson Lew, also a former graduate of the GAZOO Racing Young Talent Development Program and Rookie Class driver, winning his first ever race. Finishing second, 3.7 second adrift was Amirul Haikal of Super Evergreen Motorsport, while in third place and making his third appearance on the podium in three races was PCM Group Racing Team’s Kenneth Koh.
“The race was quite good and I managed to get away from pole position. Amirul was close but I just had to keep my composure,” said Lew who represented BAE Racing by ES Yang.
Now into its seventh year, the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Vios Challenge one-make series has seen a wave of young drivers rising to the top. This has been largely due to the series’ strict format as a one-make production race that utilizes an identically-race prepared new generation Toyota Vios powered by a 1.5-litre engine with a five-speed manual transmission. Instead of outright power, drivers are tested to the limit of their driving abilities and race craft.
Round 2 sees a total of 33 drivers lining up for the three individual classes of racing including drivers from Thailand, Singapore and India. Unlike Round 1 which utilized the entire 5.543km Petronas Sepang International Circuit, Round 2 will only run the shorter 2.706km North Track over 20 laps of racing.
Tune in to Race 2’s racing action via live stream at these platforms: FACEBOOK– facebook.com/tgrmy; YOUTUBE youtube.com/@tgrmalaysia ; and INSTAGRAM – instagram.com/tgrmalaysia. For more information, log on to www.toyota.com.my/en/tgrmalaysia.
RESULTS: ROUND 2, RACE 1
SUPER SPORTING
- Amer Harris Laser Motor Racing
- Freddie Ang Telagamas Toyota
- Mitchell Cheah Prima Pearl TD Racing
SPORTING
- Elson Lew BAE Racing by ES Young
- Amirul Haikal Super Evergreen Motorsport
- Kenneth Koh PCM Group Racing Team
ROOKIE
- Brandon Ho
- Amirul Afiq
- Raja Amirul Syauqat