Now aside from the Ferrari Challenge Asia Pacific there was a whole lot of other racing going on at Sepang International Circuit (SIC) last weekend. All of the races were part of the Malaysia Championship Series (MCS) which includes the Asian Le Mans series and also the name bearer - the Malaysia Championship Series, Touring Production Championship & the lower output Malaysian Touring Car Championship. So this time, Round 2 of the MCS race for the Touring Production Championship at SIC was won by Indonesian driver Fitra Eri of Team Sakura Tedco Racing, His third victory of this season.
Fitra, who won both sprint races in Round 1 in May, showed his prowess in the endurance test as well, in his Honda FD2 machine despite a strong challenge from second-placed Lai Wee Sing and Abdul Kaathir Mohd Mustaffa of R Engineering, who were driving a similar race car.
The Touring Production Class and the Touring Car Championship is where you see road going cars duking it out with each other. Cars that many of you can relate to. Honda Type-Rs, Suzy Swifts, Protons. Here are some pics for you to savour.
PRESS RELEASE
FITRA ERI TAKES THIRD VICTORY IN MALAYSIA CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
SEPANG, 8 AUGUST 2016 - Indonesian driver Fitra Eri of Team Sakura Tedco Racing
collected his third victory of the season after winning the one-hour endurance battle in Round 2
of the Malaysia Championship Series (MCS) at Sepang International Circuit (SIC) yesterday.
Fitra, who won both sprint races in Round 1 in May, showed his prowess in the endurance test
as well, in his Honda FD2 machine despite a strong challenge from second-placed Lai Wee
Sing and Abdul Kaathir Mohd Mustaffa of R Engineering, who were driving a similar race car.
Finishing third overall and third in the Touring Production class behind the partnership of Lai and
Abdul Kaathir was the partnership of Boy Wong Yew Choong and Alvaro Mourato in another
Honda FD2. All top three cars completed 23 laps around the 5.543km track along with eight
other Touring Production class competitors.
Starting from pole position, the Indonesian driver stuttered in the beginning, falling to fourth
place behind Lai Wee Sing, who started for R Engineering, and another two cars. Nevertheless,
by the end of Lap 1, Fitra managed to move up to second.
“I decided to just shadow Lai, who was quick, and then I went in for the compulsory pit stop
immediately after the pit window opened. I was seventh when I rejoined the race and did five
quick qualifying laps to take over the leadership when Lai pitted for a driver change. My car was
good and the team did a very good job this weekend,” he said when met after the podium
ceremony.
With 15 points collected yesterday, Eri takes his total haul to 45, opening a 13-point gap over
Lai and Abdul Kaathir, who now have 32 championship points.
In the Malaysian Touring Car (MTC) Championship, Kenny Lee took first place in his Suzuki
Swift machine, upstaging the more celebrated Mark Darwin of Team Sakura Tedco Racing, who
is also the current championship leader. Nick Mah completed the podium.
A poor start saw Kenny losing his pole position advantage as Darwin raced to the front to lead
for the five opening laps. Having the faster machine all weekend, Kenny passed his rival in the
sixth lap on Turn 9 and cruised to victory.
“We worked hard preparing this car and working on the tyres. We had the best setting and the
car was simply superb all weekend. We hope to maintain and carry this performance to the
Sepang 1000 Kilometer race. We are clearly on the right track,” said Kenny, who commended
SIC on the appointment of Yokohama as the Official Tyre for the series this season.
Despite finishing second, Darwin continues to lead the MTC Championship with a new total haul
of 42 points. Kenny Lee now moves to second with 31 points, with Nick Mah filling the third spot
on the table with 26 points.
Malaysian lady driver Geraldine Read finished 23rd overall and seventh in the MTC Class while
Singapore’s celebrity driver Claire Jedrek finished 11th in the Touring Production class.
Meanwhile, in the newly-introduced Formula 4 South East Asia championship, Singapore’s
Danial Nielsen Frost came in first with a time of 17 minutes 50.088 seconds, followed by
Australian Jordan Love and Indonesian Presley Martono with a time of 17 minutes 50.239
seconds and 17 minutes 50.683 seconds respectively. In the 8 lap race, Malaysians Nazim
Azman and Isyraf Danish were 5 th and 7 th , with a time of 18 minutes 2.481 seconds and 18
minutes 4.388 seconds respectively.
MALAYSIA CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES – ROUND 2
Top 5 Finisher – 1 hour Endurance
Touring Production Championship
1. Fitra Eri (Honda FD2) – 23 laps (1:02.17.530s)
2. Lai Wee Sing/Abdul Kaathir (Honda FD2) – 23 laps
3. Boy Wong Yew Choong/Alvaro Mourato (Honda FD2) – 23 laps
4. Mitchell Cheah (Honda FD2) – 23 laps
5. Martin Berry (Honda FD2) – 23 laps
Malaysia Touring Car Championship
1. Kenny Lee (Suzuki Swift) – 21 laps (1:02.29.101s)
2. Mark Darwin (Proton Prevé) – 21 laps
3. Nick Mah (Suzuki Swift) – 21 laps
4. Goh Lee Heng (Proton Satria Neo) – 21 laps
5. David McIntyre (Proton Satria Neo) – 21 laps
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