The Round 3 of the Toyota GAZOO Racing Malaysia Vios Gold Championship (formerly known as Vios Challenge) may saw the series now gets a new name, however, the race is still intensified as ever with racers are still trying their best to get championship points. Happening on 24-26 July the Petronas Sepang International Circuit, the Round 3 provided a lot of unexpected twists on track with the emergence of new forces as favourite championship contenders struggled to take advantage of what could have given them an almost unassailable lead in the overall point standings.
Doubling the race distance compared to the ½ track format used in the first two rounds meant that championship frontrunners faced more traffic on the track. As a result, they couldn’t dominate as before and had to put in more effort to earn points.
In Race 1 of the Super Sporting Class for elite and professionals, defending champion Telagamas Toyota’s Freddie Ang raced to victory from pole position to finish 5.9 seconds ahead of RH Kalulong Motorsport’s Timothy Yeo. Finishing 3rd in the one-hour race was Team Prima Pearl SP Selatan’s and also former champion Mitchell Cheah.
The amateur Sporting Class meanwhile, saw Hong Huat X Armada KK Racing’s Elson Lew take the chequered flag a massive 10.9 seconds in front of Saksama Motorsports’ Taj Izrin Aiman and Axle Sports’ Aditya Patnaik a further two seconds adrift in 3rd place.
The battle of the young drivers in the Rookie Class saw the emergence of a dominant drive from 16-year-old Ethen Low who went on to win both Race 1 and Race 2. He finished his first race a massive 18.7 seconds ahead of his nearest rival Ervin Lim while taking 3rd was Imran Iskandar.
While the racing was ultra-competitive in Race 1, it was Race 2 on Sunday which had all the ingredients of high-speed action and drama on track.
The safety car was deployed on three separate occasions due to collisions involving racers in the Sporting Class, and the race would ultimately end behind the safety car.
An incident involving Fokus Racing Team’s Lim Chun Beng and Super Evergreen Motorsport’s Sophia Zara brought out the safety car as early as the third lap, and later again in the 15th lap involving FIA Boulevard Racing’s Hendra Ade Putra.
And just as the race was about to be restarted, a collision involving Unihub & DMW 1 Motorsport’s Loke Yin Yi and GTA Race Team’s Ng Aik Sha along the back straight immediately went into a third safety car condition as both vehicles became incapacitated on track.
The Super Sporting Class in Race 2 was won by PS Harapan Menang’s Bradley Benedict who made the most of a pole position start to runaway with the race win. Cheah finished second for another podium finish while PCM Group Racing Team’s Kenneth Koh was placed 3rd.
“I had a good start during the race and just did my best to extend my lead,” said Bradley whose early lead of 1.5 seconds diminished in the first safety car incident, followed by a lead of 2.5 seconds which was also wiped out when the safety car came out again. He eventually won the race just 0.5 seconds ahead of Cheah.
“I was both fortunate and unfortunate with the safety car conditions. Yes, whatever lead I had built up disappeared on three occasions but I was lucky that I did not have to defend my position throughout the race and had a clear track ahead. The margin of victory may have been small but it was enough to take the race win.”
While all the incidents were taking place in the Sporting Class, it was Axle Sports’ Patnaik from India who kept his cool throughout the one-hour race to eventually win it by the slimmest of margins – just 0.3 seconds in front of G-Mart Motorsport’s Adam Mikail. KMS 333 Motorsports’ Ariff Azmi finished 3rd. That victory also marked Patnaik’s second appearance on the winners’ podium in two races.
Low meanwhile, went on to take his second successive race win in the Rookie Class, 0.4 seconds ahead of Megat Damian and Ervin Lim who crossed the line in 2nd and 3rd respectively.
A total of RM876,000 is available in prize money for Season 9 of the Toyota Vios Gold Championship, with the final round scheduled for October.
RESULTS – ROUND 3, TOYOTA VIOS GOLD CHAMPIONSHIP
RACE 1
SUPER SPORTING CLASS
1.Freddie Ang Telagamas Toyota
2.Timothy Yeo RH Kalulong Motorsport
3.Mitchell Cheah Team Prima Pearl SP Selatan
SPORTING CLASS
1.Elson Lew Hong Huat X Armada KK Racing
2.Taj Izrin Aiman Saksama Motorsports
3.Aditya Patnaik Axle Sports
ROOKIE CLASS
1.Ethen Low
2.Ervin Lim
3.Imran Iskandar
RACE 2
SUPER SPORTING CLASS
1.Bradley Benedict PS Harapan Menang
2.Mitchell Cheah Team Prima Pearl SP Selatan
3.Kenneth Koh PCM Group Racing Team
SPORTING CLASS
1.Aditya Patnaik Axle Sports
2.Adam Mikail G-Mart Motorsport
3.Ariff Azmi KMS 333 Motorsports
ROOKIE CLASS
1.Ethen Low
2.Megat Damian Ariff
3.Ervin Lim