SEPANG: With the launch of the Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) Racing Festival in Malaysia featuring the one-make Vios Challenge street race series, motorsports fans will be getting a taste of high adrenaline action up close.

Here are some frequently asked questions about the UMW Toyota Motor and Toyota Gazoo Racing Team’s jointly-organised motorsports festival expected to kick off for the first time in August.

1. What is the Vios Challenge?
It is a one-make race featuring 30 identical dynamic and sporty Toyota Vios race cars.
There will be four races that make up this season’s Vios Challenge and it will be the feature event at the TGR Racing Festival events.

2. What is the TGR Racing Festival?
It will be a huge weekend-long carnival that is planned to happen in Penang, Johor and twice in Kuala Lumpur.
There will be entertainment, lots of activities and games, challenges, car sales, food and lots more.
It will be a fun weekend for the entire family.

3. Who gets to race in the Vios Challenge?
Anyone who holds a national racing licence issued by the AAM is eligible to race.
Now all you need is to purchase a Vios Challenge racing car.

4. Can a current Vios owner join the Vios Challenge using his own car?
It would not be in the spirit of the Vios Challenge as the car could be different from the rest that have been prepared officially.
The idea is to have all the racers pit skill against skill without relying on mechanical advantage.
This helps bring motor racing back to its purest form.

5. Where did the idea of the Vios Challenge come from?
The concept of a one-make race has long been established using various models of cars and modified to various stages or levels of competition.
In Thailand and the Philippines, they have successfully run a Vios race using approximately the same formula that was developed by TRD in Japan.
In line with Toyota Gazoo Racing’s global agenda to raise initiatives in motorsport activities, we have developed the Vios Challenge here in Malaysia.

6. What do you hope to achieve from this Vios Challenge?
The Toyota Vios has been understated as an innovative, sporty and exciting car.
Through this Vios Challenge, we hope to elevate its image and increase its appeal to a young fan base.

7. Where and when will the Vios Challenge be run?
The race season is planned between August this year and March next year.
The dates and locations will be announced when they have officially been inscribed by AAM.

8. Why did you choose to run the Vios Challenge as a street race?
We did not want the event to be overshadowed by the overwhelming structure of a race environment as the intention was to create a carnival- like atmosphere and make it as accessible to the people as possible.
By creating our own event and space, we can effectively immerse everyone in the excitement and make them feel like they are a part of the action.

9. What do the winners get from this?
Winners will take home a trophy and other prizes that will be announced before the race season begins.

10. How safe is it racing on the streets?
There will be no compromise on safety. We are working together with TRD, AAM and our own consultants to design a circuit that is exciting, fun and yet safe for drivers and spectators. All our regulations will be inscribed according to FIA rules and we will have full medical facilities at every venue.

THE VIOS CHALLENGE CAR

1. What are the modifications that have been made to the Vios race car?
The base car is the Vios 1.5J MT assembled at UMW Toyota Motor’s Assembly Services Sdn Bhd (ASSB) plant in Shah Alam.

It will be fitted with:
- TRD aerodynamic kit
- TRD exhaust system
- TRD clutch system and LSD (limited slip differential)
- TRD suspension system
- TRD brake pads
- TRD tower bar and lower brace bars
- Roll Cage
- Enkei rims and Toyo Tyres

2. What is the purchase price for the racing Vios and what does the package include?
The price for the race car is RM90,000.00 and this includes all the parts, engineering and testing, one set of FIA-approved racing suit and six sessions of racing school training for novice drivers.

3. Where are the cars being prepared?
They are prepared by Wing Hin Motorsports, one of the top racing outfits in Malaysia and a highly-respected Toyota dealer.

4. What model is being used for the race car?
The race cars are the Vios 1.5J M/T.

5. How much more power does the racing Vios produce?
The race car produces about 10% more power than the stock standard model.

6. Why didn’t you consider giving it more power? Won’t that increase the fun factor?
We did not want to alter the dynamics of the Vios too radically.
As it stands, the Vios is already a fun and sporty car.
By adding more power, we will then need to beef up other elements and this will be a never-ending exercise so it is better to maintain a formula where the car is fun to drive yet provides good spectator value.

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