Malaysian race car driver, Hayden Haikal, close his 2023 Thailand Super Series Super Eco Championship season in high note with a race win and 3rd place finish. Racing with Thailand’s newly-minted Pipekids Racing Team, the final race weekend 2023 Thailand Super Series Super Eco Championship season took place at Saturday, 16 Dec and Sunday, 17 Dec.
Hayden began his race weekend promisingly by posting the fastest time in official practice before eventually settling for third quickest in qualifying.
Race 1 on Saturday was door to door from start to finish with Hayden in the #24 Honda Brio Amaze leading for most parts of the 12-lap race. It all came down to a three-way battle for the win in the final lap of the race which also involved V-Are Pro Garage Racing Team’s Athipong Khumtong in the Suzuki Swift and the Honda Brio of Insane Motorsport’s Danuwat Worakitichai. Athipong had surged ahead of the pack at the start of the final lap but Hayden was to have none of this and regained the lead several corners to the finish to win by a car’s length or 0.6 seconds.
“It was an incredibly tough but exciting race with the top contenders all in for the win. At one point of the race we had as many as three to four cars abreast fighting into the corners. The team had a strong car coming into the final racing weekend and I just focused on keeping it clean on the track, avoiding any unnecessary contact and focus on my driving,” said Hayden who was the only Malaysian competing in the class from a field dominated by 17 other Thai drivers.
Race 2 began as a reverse grid for the top five finishers in Race 1 which meant Hayden had plenty to do starting from 5th on the grid and running heavier carrying a 25kg winner’s ballast (extra weights). That however, did not seem to hamper Hayden who shot into 3rd place into first corner, moved up to 2nd by the final corner of lap 1, and eventually took the lead after three laps.
The race for the win however, quickly became a four-way battle involving Hayden, S. Thanapattra, N. Chanoknun and Athipong and with only four laps to the finish, the Malaysian lost the lead to Chanoknun and was later boxed in. The final lap of the race was the most intense and in a matter of just a few corners, Hayden had to fight hard to finish 3rd.
“The results of the previous six races earlier in the year realistically did not place us in contention to fight for the overall championship but nevertheless, the team’s objective was to come away with as many points as we can considering it is PipeKids Racing’ first year competing. For me personally, coming to Thailand is not only to fulfill an ambition to move up the racing classes but also to prove to myself that I can become a valuable asset as a development driver. It’s been a fantastic season and I am extremely thankful that I have been able to help elevate Pipekids Racing to the front of the field in its first year.”
The win in Race 1 and 3rd place in Race 2 marks Pipekids Racing’s best ever result for 2023 having finished 2nd and 4th in Round 2 of the championship.
“We have learnt a lot as a team and hopefully this year’s experience will place Pipekids Racing in a stronger position to fight for the championship in 2024.”
Hayden Haikal will be focusing to explore opportunities to move up to the higher classes of racing, namely GT car racing in 2024 and beyond.