Being at the right place and striking at the right time – that seems to have been the winning formula for the pair of Tengku Djan Ley and Mika Hakimi who drove to almost identical wins in both the races of the inaugural GAZOO Racing Vios Sprint Cup.
The Prima Pearl TD Racing duo finished of their race weekend at the Sepang International Circuit with a win in the second 1-hour race. While it was 18-year old Mika who had taken the chequered flag in the first race the day before, Tengku Djan – a 3-time Vios Challenge overall champion and Malaysia’s ‘Drift King’ – was at the wheel for the second win.
Unlike Race 1 on Saturday which was held in blistering heat, Race 2 got underway after being delayed twice to wait for a heavy downpour to subside. So conditions around the 5.543-km circuit were slippery and made things even more challenging.
Race 2’s grid was filled with 19 cars, with each car having two drivers. There was one car and crew more than Race 1 as Laser Motor Racing’s Eddie Liew/Putera Adam had not taken part due to a technical problem with their Vios.
To make the race more interesting, the reverse grid format was adopted and the winning pair started Race 2 in sixth position, plus weight penalties as well. On pole position was the Vios driven by the pair of Ady Rahimy and 16-year old Abdul Miqail, followed by Laser Motor racing’s Mark Darwin/Bradley Benedict Anthony, while in third position was Axle Motorsports’ Hayden Haikal/Naquib Azlan who finished fourth in Race 1. Starting from fourth on the grid was S&D Tama Motorsports’ Tom Goh/Freddie Ang, third placed winners the day before
Abdul Miqail got off to a great start but failed to hang on to his race lead when he spun off the wet track just as the race entered its second lap. That immediately promoted Naquib to race leader with Bradley, Nabil and Mika in close pursuit. Positions remained unchanged for 4 laps until Bradley misjudged his braking point, losing his position to Nabil and Mika.
The biggest gainer in the opening stages was Putera Adam who jumped 17 places from last position and into the lead by lap 7 of the race. The 16-year old drove a blistering pace and was among the last drivers to make the compulsory pit-stop for a driver change, handing the car over to his team mate for the remaining 30 minutes of the race.
With the driver changes completed, Eddie led the race 4.7 seconds ahead of Tengku Djan with Hayden, Boy and Mark rounding up the top 5 frontrunners. His lead however, diminished lap after lap as the pair of Tengku Djan and Boy lapped the circuit almost a second a lap quicker. By lap 14, the three drivers were abreast of each other and fighting for the lead.
The closing 3 laps were thus exciting and Tengku Djan used his experience and skills to move from third to first. It was a similar move as Mika did the previous day; once in front, his lead would grow from 1.3 seconds to 4.5 seconds by the time he took the chequered flag. Boy secured second place, with Hayden finishing third, Eddie in fourth position and fifth place going to the M7 Japan Project Team’s Fariqe Hairuman and Tarmimi Tahang.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about teamwork and both drivers must have similar pace, and only then will you have a fighting chance. Mika has been able to keep his cool throughout the race weekend and on top of that, he has the speed. We have to work as a team, there must be a sharing of knowledge, and you can’t do everything yourself,” said Tengku Djan.
UMW Toyota Motor President Ravindran K. said the GAZOO Racing Vios Sprint Cup and its format of a 1-hour race with a driver change certainly introduced new dynamics to the racing many of the drivers who are already competing in the Vios Challenge used to.
“As you know, UMW Toyota Motors’ foray into Malaysian motorsports began with the introduction of a street racing series. That has since evolved to include races on the half and full track length at the Sepang International Circuit; the organizing of a night race; the introduction of a program to develop young drivers and creating a Rookie Class; and even participation in the Sepang 1000KM Endurance Race last year as well as the running of the Vios Enduro Cup,” he said.
“These elements combined are in line with our efforts to contribute to not only growing interest in motorsports, but to make it even more exciting for both the participating teams and drivers, as well as spectators and enthusiasts,” Mr. Ravindran said.
Tengku Djan/Mika Hakimi duo win first race of GR Vios Sprint Cup
