During the ceremony held at the company's headquarters in Shah Alam, UMW Toyota Motor deputy chairman and Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) Malaysia chief motorsports officer Akio Takeyama presented the prizes and trophies to the winners.
"Despite the Series being abruptly cut short (due to the pandemic), I would like to congratulate every single driver who demonstrated a high level of competitiveness, racing skills and sportsmanship. We will return bigger than before,” said Takeyama.
Takeyama said that the race series is all about providing competitors with a levelled playing field that emphasises on driving skills and experience.
He added that it was also about making it affordable for individuals and teams as well as to make the races more closely contested for the benefit of spectators and promised that the race series will return "bigger than before" in season four.
In the Super Sporting class for professional drivers, Tengku Djan Ley Tengku Mahaleel was crowned overall champion and was presented with a grand prize of RM100,000 - making it his second successive title in the race series.
Taking second and third place for the season in the Super Sporting Class was Mark Darwin of Laser Motor Racing and Freddie Ang of Telagamas Toyota who picked up RM50,000 and RM30,000 respectively.
Moving to the Sporting Class for amateurs, it was 16-year-old Hayden Haikal - the youngest competitor in the series, who took the overall top spot of the class, earning himself and his team RM100,000.
In second place was another teenager, 18-year-old Bradley Benedict Anthony who finished second overall (RM50,000) while Haji Sutan Mustaffa took third overall (RM30,000) in the Sporting Class.
Within the action-packed Promotional Class for celebrities, it was none other than musician and TV personality Shawn Lee who took the overall win.
From left: (standing) Shukri Yahaya, Nabil, Mark Darwin, Freddie Ang, Bradley Benedict Anthony and Haji Sutan Mustaffa Salihin. (Seated) Takeyama, Shawn Lee, Tenku Djan Ley, Hayden Haikal and UMW Toyota Motor director of marketing division Mohd Shamsoor Mohd Zain.
Lee managed to clinch three race wins during the season and was clearly the most dominant driver on the grid as he secured his second championship out of the three seasons.
Actor Shukri Yahaya and TV personality Nabil Ahmad car in second and third overall.
Both Lee and Shukri have been rivals since the start of the race series and because the duo practically dominated the races, they were moved up to the Sporting Class for amateurs in season two. Season 3 saw the two racers return to the Promotional Class.
No prize monies are offered in the Promotional Class.
The third season of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival started in Kuala Terengganu (Sept 6 to 7, 2019) before moving on to Bandar Malaysia (Nov 9 to 10, 2019) and Batu Kawan, Penang (Feb 15 to 16).
The final round was due to be held at the Sepang International Circuit from April 17 to 19 but was cancelled for safety reasons and in accordance with the Movement Control Order's (MCO) guidelines which came into effect on Mar 18.
The MCO was subsequently extended past the race date, forcing the event to be cancelled.
The series was originally planned for eight races to be held over four rounds and only managed to complete six races.
UMW Toyota consulted with the Motorsports Association of Malaysia (MAM) - the country's motorsports governing body and it was determined that since the series had completed 75% of its races, it was deemed sufficient to name the overall season champions.
The company added that this was consistent with the best practices of other international motor-racing events and in adherence to provisions underlined by the technical and sporting
regulations of the series.
The Toyota Vios Challenge is open to individuals, teams and Toyota dealers, and offer competitors a level playing field by competing in identical race-prepared 1.5-litre Toyota Vios cars.
“The spirit that is embodied in Gazoo Racing and the Toyota brand is all about advancing the potential of both vehicles and people. It is not only confined to building better products and shaping the strength, capability and creativity of our workforce but as our Series has proven, it is very much about developing new, young and talented drivers as well as cultivating greater public appreciation and interest in motor-racing,” said UMW Toyota Motor president Ravindran K.
With the new normal - post-MCO, plans for TGR Season 4 are in the works and promises to be more thrilling, exciting and nerve-wracking.
