With the top two fastest qualifying speeds and victories in Race 1 at the Sepang International Circuit, Laser Motor Racing dominated the first day of the GR Vios Sprint Cup weekend.

Teammates Eddie Lew and Amer Harris came in second, while Putera Adam and Jwan Hii took the lead with the fastest time of 2 minutes, 52.302 seconds. Hayden Haikal and Timothy Yeo of Axle Sports completed the top three positions.

The GR Vios Sprint Cup has two 1-hour races on Saturday and Sunday, 2-driver teams, a required pit stop, and a driver switch. Toyota’s presence in motor racing has expanded thanks to this move, which has also given Toyota dealers and privateers the chance to compete in saloon car racing at lower costs and, more importantly, the chance to succeed as a racing team and actively take part in the development of young talent.

When heavy rain fell just before the start of Race 1, participants were caught off guard. While the rain stopped, the track remained wet, which meant that all bets on the top qualifiers were off.

Putera Adam and Amer defended their positions at the front of the pack as they entered the first corner at the beginning, with Naquib Azlan of Axle Sports pursuing them in third. Hayden, who experienced gearbox issues on the formation lap and Mitchell Cheah of Prima Pearl TD Racing, who was scheduled to start sixth, both failed to qualify for the race. Tengku Djan Ley, Tengku Mahaleel, and Zizan Razak of the Prima Pearl TD Racing team also failed to start the race.

While Amer and Naquib battled for second place, with second position changing hands multiple times in the first laps, Putera Adam had a clear track ahead of him, extending his lead to as much as 7.4 seconds by the fourth lap.

At the halfway point of the race, Putera Adam made the required driver change pit stop, and Jwan Hii was given the duty of driving the car to the finish line. At that point, the lead had increased to more than 51 seconds. As soon as he returned to the track, Hii had a 13-second advantage over Nabil Azlan, who had replaced his brother Naquib in the #17 Axle Sports vehicle. Eddie Lew, who replaced Amer in the second Laser Motor Racing vehicle, maintained third place but lagged further behind by 13 seconds.

However, as Nabil increased the pressure, Hii’s lead would shrink to 7.9 seconds. Despite this, Nabil was unable to stop Hii from crossing the finish line.

The team from Distinctive Model led by William Aaron Haikal and Ady Rahimy made the highest improvement of the day, moving up from grid position 7 to finish in fourth.

Three female drivers competed in the 21-Car GR Vios Sprint Cup lineup, including sisters Nurul Husna and Auni Nasharuddin, who drove for Rock Racing, and Adele Lew, who was paired with Kenneth Koh in the Panglima City Racing Team.

Tomorrow, June 25, Race 2 will begin with a reverse grid order based on the results of Race 1, with the slower qualifier of the two drivers starting the one-hour race.

Participants in the GR Vios Sprint Cup compete for total prize monies amounting to RM60,000 per race weekend with the overall champion in each of the two races awarded RM10,000 cash, followed by RM8,000 for the first runner up, RM6,000 to the third place winner, and RM4,000 and RM2,000 for the fourth and fifth place winners respectively.