Nazim Azman posing with the trophy after winning Round 9 of the British Formula 3 race at Brands Hatch Circuit in England.
PETALING JAYA: Nazim Azman earned a meaningful Merdeka Day joy for the nation by winning his first British Formula 3 race this season after a storming start from fourth on the grid at Brands Hatch Circuit in England.
The 18-year-old is the only Malaysian granted special permission to go overseas to compete in four-wheel racing at the moment.
And he has not squandered the opportunity, handling the car well despite rainy conditions to win Round 9 of the championship on Saturday.
The Carlin driver jumped up to first as those ahead of him on the grid struggled to get away and did not relinquish the position throughout the 14-lap race.
He withstood major pressure from Japanese Reece Ushijima to finish in 19:29.899, taking what is Carlin Racing’s fourth win of the season.
His Japanese rival from Hitech GP took second in 19:30.598 ahead of Australian Bart Horsten (19:31.041).
Nazim was delighted to have done his small part to cheer up the nation despite the tough current situation.
He is constrained to a bubble environment in the championship with the rest of the Carlin team members until November and took time to get used to the new norm.
“It was a matter of time before this moment arrived and it’s something special to win it on the eve of Merdeka Day,” said Nazim.“The last two rounds have been a bit disappointing. At Oulton Park (first stop), we were really quick but we kind of dipped off at Donington (second stop) and then the same here because of the rain.
“But overall I was quite optimistic, I had a gut feeling that we could do it.
“It started to rain a bit early in the race and continued until the end.
“I had to be a bit careful and manage my tyres wisely,” added Nazim, who is only the second Malaysian winner to win a British F3 race after Jazeman Jaafar.
It is not the first for Nazim, who honed his skills for Meritus Racing in the SEA F4 Championship before moving to Europe.
He already won two races last year in his rookie season last year while driving for Chris Dittmann Racing.
The series is the leading single-seater championship in Britain and attracts aspiring young drivers hoping to break into Formula 1 in the future.
A total of 24 rounds are taking place in eight tracks with the season finale at Silverstone in early November.
Nazim is fourth in the championship overall standings after nine races on 144 points.
