PENANG: The second and final day of the third installment of the Toyota Vios Challenge race series had more than 10,000 spectators on the edge of their seats thanks to the close racing action around the 1.56km street circuit at Stadium Batu Kawan in Penang.

Starting from the front row, it was M7 Racing Team’s Syafiq Ali (car 7) who made the most of pole position and a first corner incident to lead Race 2 of the Super Sporting class from start to finish.

Team Dream Chaser's Brendan Paul Anthony (car (car 91) finished two seconds behind in second with Team Nanoplus' Keifli bin Othman (car 45) taking third. Both racers finished in the same position as Race 1.

Syafiq was able to get off to a good start and managed to pull away from the main starting pack, which was held up due to a a few cars coming together after the first right-hand corner of turn-one.

Brendan stayed on the outside line before taking the corner and managed to steer clear of trouble and together with Keifli the duo were able to navigate past the confusion and concentrate on catching Syafiq.

“I was unaware of what happened behind and was focused on the clear track ahead. It wasn’t until a few corners later that I realized the rest of the grid was nowhere to be seen with the exception of Brendan and Keifli,” said Syafiq.

Chasing hard, the gap between Brendan and Syafiq remained within 2.0 seconds until the chequered flag with Brendan settling for second place.

For Keifli, what began as a troubling weekend resulted from damage sustained during qualifying, which unexpectedly concluded on a high note with two consecutive third place finishes.

“The incident during qualifying had left me short of new tyres for the race. The team took a gamble not to purchase more tyres for the race which would have required me to start from the back of the grid. Fortunately, that gamble paid off this weekend but towards the closing laps of the race, I just couldn’t push the car any further as I was struggling with grip,” said Keifli.

SPORTING CLASS
The best race action of the day however, was in the Sporting Class with second-place starter Revo Technik Malaysia's substitute driver Jakson Tan (car 93) maintaining his lead to win Race 2.

Eddy Tan (car 71) failed to get off the starting line well enough and allowed Jakson to take the lead.

This dropped him down to fourth, with Hiewa Racing’s Wong Chin Ee (car 5) and celebrity Shawn Lee (car 6) getting past as well, but in trying to claw back his lost position, Eddy found himself in the wall after braking too late in the second lap.

Meanwhile, the main battle was raging at the front wit Panglima City Racing Team's Kenneth Koh (car 28) continuously dishing out the onslaught on Jakson, but ultimately finished finished second with Kulim Top Wheels' Ken Foo (car 10) clinching third.

The top five positions remained unchanged for eight laps with Jakson in the lead followed by Wong, Lee, ST Wangan Racing Team's Eric Yong (car 22) and Koh.

In an overtaking attempt for second place, Lee nudged Wong into the wall, but karma struck on lap 17 with a mistake sending him into the wall as well.

Although Koh finished in second place, he was undoubtedly the fastest man on the track after having started in ninth place.

“It was all about keeping it together today, not being overly eager to overtake and coming into contact with anyone on the track,” said Koh who admitted to causing a collision in Race 1.

“I am responsible for yesterday’s incident and it was a very hard lesson for me, but after the dust settled, it has nevertheless been a great weekend of racing.”

PROMOTIONAL CLASS
All the action in the Promotional class for celebrities unfolded in the closing stages of the 20-lap race which saw an epic two-car battle between actress Janna Nick (car 18) and television presenter and comedian Nabil Ahmad (car 83), while singer Aiman Tino (car 77) took third.



Starting from pole, Janna immediately jumped into the lead thanks to a brilliant start with Nabil in hot pursuit for some 18 laps.

Nabil eventually overtook her, but to much surprise of spectators, Janna managed to fight back and regained the lead just a few corners before the chequered flag.



“Nabil was obviously faster but I did all I could to prevent him from overtaking. Eventually, I gave way…but just enough for him to enjoy the lead for one lap before regaining it and going for the win,” said Janna who celebrated her first ever race win in 14 races.

“Finally (a race win)…It certainly helps to start from pole position,” she added.



Meanwhile, Race 1 winner Diana Danielle’s  (car 15) drive ended with four laps remaining when she went too wide into the corner and hit the wall hard to concede her fourth place in the race.

Other race casualties included Akim Ahmad (car 46) who started in third after getting pushed into the wall by fellow singer second-place starter Khai Bahar (car 94).



Singer Nabila Razali (car 83) also ended the two-race weekend with two collisions with the concrete barrier.

The Toyota Vios Challenge which returned to Penang for a second year running saw the participation of some 40 racers competing in three categories of Promotional for local celebrities, Sporting for amateurs and Super Sporting for professional drivers.

For spectators, two-day for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival and Toyota Vios Challenge featured an array of activities and attractions that included the display and test driving of new Toyota models such as the new Camry and Vios.



There were also the performances of two professional Japanese drifters in heavily modified Toyota 86 cars, a fun run and zumba session for fitness enthusiasts, sale of special “race themed” merchandises, lucky draws throughout the weekend and meet the fan sessions with the TGR celebrities as well as a mini concert.

The fourth and final round of the Toyota Vios Challenge is scheduled for April 27 to 28 at the Sepang International Circuit.



 

RESULTS: Round 3 - race 2 (Stadium Batu Kawan, Penang)

PROMOTIONAL CLASS
1. Janna Nick
2. Nabil Ahmad
3. Aiman Tino
4. Wany Hasrita
5. Akio Takeyama

SPORTING CLASS
1. Jakson Tan of Revo Technik Malaysia
2. Kenneth Koh of Panglima City Racing Team
3. Dato’ Ken Foo of Kulim Top Wheels
4. Eric Yong of ST Wangan Racing Team
5. Lim Chun Beng of Team Fokus Tetap

SUPER SPORTING CLASS
1. Syafiq Ali of M7 Racing Team
2. Brendan Paul Anthony of Dream Chaser
3. Keifli Othman of Team Nanoplus
4. Kenny Lee of Kegani Racing
5. William Ho of Kegani Racing

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