The Toyota GAZOO Racing Vios Challenge Season 9 Round 2 has concluded last weekend (19-21 June 2026), provided a hard battle race with numerous on-track drama.
In hot conditions at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit South Track, 37 entries competed in three divisions—Super Sporting, Sporting, and Rookie Classes—while 14 entries in the Classic Challenge added to the excitement, attracting 618,000 live stream viewers.
SUPER SPORTING CLASS
Competition among the professional drivers in the Super Sporting Class was tough, with former champion Mitchell Cheah winning after a strong effort, finishing ahead of pole-sitter Nabil Azlan in Race 1.
Nabil from Laser Motor Racing started the race strongly and led for 16 laps. However, Cheah in the #61 Team Prima Pearl SP Selatan Vios moved up from 7th place on the starting grid to challenge for the lead in the last part of the 30-minute race. Bradley Benedict Anthony finished in 3rd place.
“It’s great to be back on top! It’s been a while,” said Cheah. “We still have a long way to go before the championship is decided but we’re feeling a lot better with the car this weekend and hopefully we can carry this momentum moving forward.”
Race 2 told a different story as Cheah ended up 8th, over 11 seconds behind the winner.
In this race, Tom Goh from S&D Tama Motorsports took an early lead from pole position, staying 0.7 seconds ahead of Bradley Benedict Anthony. However, in lap 4, Goh went too wide, which allowed Anthony to take the lead, with Toyotsu Racing’s William Ho moving into 2nd place. Ho quickly gained speed and soon passed Anthony to become the new leader.
Ho and Anthony battled fiercely until the second to last lap, with just 2.5 seconds between them. Unexpectedly, Anthony fell to 4th place in the final lap, letting Laser Motor Racing’s Nabil Azlan take 2nd place, marking his second podium finish of the weekend, while his teammate Ady Rahimy finished in 3rd.
The main disappointment of the weekend was Freddie Ang, the overall championship leader and defending Super Sporting Class champion. He received a 30-second penalty in Race 1 and ended up 6th in Race 2.
SPORTING CLASS
Race 1 was mainly led by foreign drivers in the Vios Challenge. Thailand’s Varunchit Wattanathanakun from RUK Team PMC 52 came in first, followed by Elson Lew from Hong Huat X Armada KK Racing in second place. India’s Aditya Patnaik, driving for Axle Sports, secured third.
Wattanathanakun started in 3rd position but quickly took the lead, managing to increase his gap from 1.3 seconds to 11.2 seconds by the end of the race.
He faced little competition for the lead, while Lew had to defend his position from Ariff Azmi of KMS 333 Motorsports and Patnaik, who wanted to claim the final spots on the podium.
Ariff and Lew switched places for 2nd during the 13th and 16th laps, but Ariff had to stop due to a mechanical problem, which moved Patnaik up to 3rd. With just one lap to go, Patnaik was close behind Lew but couldn’t pass him.
“It’s great to be racing in Malaysia. The driving standards are incredibly higher here and it is a solid training ground for my development as a driver back in Thailand,” said Varunchit who is into his second year competing in the Vios Challenge.
Race 2 on Sunday was won by Adam Mikail from G-Mart Best Autosport, finishing 3 seconds ahead of Justin Toh from BAE Racing. Taj Aiman from Saksama Motorsports took 3rd place.
ROOKIE CLASS
In Race 1, Imran Iskandar won after two second-place finishes in Round 1. The 17-year-old took the chequered flag from pole position, finishing ahead of 16-year-old Ethen Low, who made his podium debut after obtaining a national racing license just two weeks ago. In 3rd place was 20-year-old Ngo Yong Jian, a simulator racer and track day enthusiast.
“Honestly, it feels great to be on the top step of the podium after finishing 2nd twice. I certainly feel a lot more confident coming into Round 2 and now the overall championship is certainly shaping to be a very tough one,” said Imran.
“Moving forward, I forsee the championship being very close – not only due to my fellow Rookie drivers, but also with the race format of success ballast and reverse grid format – but I’m not going to stop trying my best.”
The Rookie Class includes drivers who have completed the GAZOO Racing Malaysia Young Talent Development Program, which is now in its 6th year. This program helps young drivers move from simulator racing and karting into saloon car racing.
In Race 2, Low won the race, marking his debut in style. He finished 2nd in Race 1, earning two podium spots. Ervin Lim took 2nd place, and Imran Iskandar secured the 3rd position.
“I could not have asked for a better race debut. I would like to thank UMW Toyota Motor, GAZOO Racing Malaysia and my coaches for making this all possible and I look forward to repeating and improving on this performance in the coming two rounds.,” said Low.
CLASSIC CHALLENGE
The most exciting moments of the racing weekend happened during Race 1 of the Classic Challenge, where the safety car was used twice in the one-hour race.
At the start, Aylezo Motorsport’s car #64, driven by Harkiesh Geeva, flipped into the gravel during Lap 2 after being hit from behind. Harkiesh was not hurt, but the car was damaged too much to fix before Race 2.
Later in the race, Nurul Husna’s car #44 from Rock Racing crashed into the concrete barrier on the main straight after another collision.
The race was won by Kegani Racing Academy’s Loke Yin Yi and Kenny Lee, who finished 3.2 seconds ahead of brothers Brendan Paul and Bradley Benedict Anthony. In 3rd place were Mekkaradkeeta Kalantananda and Varunchit Wattanathanakun from RUKTeam PMC 52 from Thailand.
“We started from 4th position on the grid and slowly improved our position to 3rd before I came in for the mandatory pitstop to hand over the driving duties to Lee. We managed muster good pace throughout the weekend and I was confident of the team’s strategy, and with Lee at the wheel for the second stint, we could bridge the gap with the top two cars. We chose to pit first ahead of the leaders and that was a critical decision that would give us just what we needed to get ahead and lead with a minimal gap right to the chequered flag.” Said Yi.
Victory in Race 1 and a 2nd place finish in Race 2 were great accomplishments for Lee and Yi, especially after they had two 2nd places in Round 1.
In Race 2, the 91R Racing team of Mohamad Anaqi and Mohamad Hariry started 7th on the grid but quickly took the lead, running strong for the first 30 laps and building an 8-second lead until a safety car came out with 12 minutes left.
This changed the race into a thrilling sprint. When the race restarted, the all-sibling team of Bradley Benedict and Brenda Paul Anthony took the lead. Soon after, Mohamad Anaqi and Mohamad Hariry fell back to 7th as the front became a three-car battle with Bradley Benedict/Brendan Paul, Kegani Racing Academy’s Kenny Lee and Loke Yin Yi, and Kenneth Koh/Lim Yoong Kit.
In the final two laps, Bradley Benedict managed to hold off strong competition to win the race, finishing just a car length ahead of Kenny Lee. Meanwhile, the Thai duo Mekkaradkeeta Kalantananda and Varunchit Wattanathanakun from RUKTeam PMC 52 secured their second consecutive 3rd place of the weekend.
Season 9 of the Vios Challenge, which started in 2017, features a total prize pool of RM876,000 across four rounds, making it the longest-running series for production-based saloon car races organized by a manufacturer.
Round 3 will take place at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit from July 25-26, where racers will tackle the full 5.543 km track.
RESULTS, VIOS CHALLENGE SEASON 9, ROUND 2 (20-21 JUNE 2026)
RACE 1
SUPER SPORTING
1. Mitchell Cheah Team Prima Pearl SP Selatan
2. Nabil Azlan Laser Motor Racing
3. Bradley Benedict Anthony
SPORTING
1. Varunchit Wattanathanakun RUKTeam PMC 52
2. Elson Lew Hong Huat X Armada KK Racing
3. Aditya Patnaik Axle Sports
ROOKIE
1. Imran Iskandar
2. Ethen Low
3. Ngo Yong Jian
CLASSIC CHALLENGE
1. Loke Yin Yi/Kenny Lee Kegani Racing Academy
2. Brendan Paul/Bradley Benedict
3. Mekkaradkeeta Kalantananda/Varunchit Wattanathanakun RUKTeam PMC 52
RACE 2
SUPER SPORTING
1. William Ho Toyotsu Racing
2. Nabil Azlan Laser Motor Racing
3. Ady Rahimy Laser Motor Racing
SPORTING
1. Adam Mikail G-Mart Best Autosport
2. Justin Toh BAE Racing by ES Yang
3. Taj Aiman Saksama Motorsports
ROOKIE
1. Ethen Low
2. Ervin Lim
3. Imran Iskandar
CLASSIC CHALLENGE
1. Bradley Benedict/Brendan Paul Anthony
2. Loke Yin Yi/Kenny Lee Kegani Racing Academy
3. Mekkaradkeeta Kalantananda/Varunchit Wattanathanakun RUKTeam PMC 52