KUALA LUMPUR – Three Malaysians stepped on the podium today in Race 2 of the GT World Challenge Asia’s first round here at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC).
Datuk Adrian D’Silva came in first place for EBM Giga Racing alongside teammate Earl Bamber from New Zealand.
Not having raced at SIC for over two years, D’Silva said it was a good weekend for the team.
“The team has been rusty being away for so long, but we achieved a great result over the two days.
“The car’s pace was phenomenal and gave us the advantage we needed,” he said after celebrating his win.
In Race 1, D’Silva and Bamber crossed the line in second behind Triple Eight Johor Racing’s car number 99, driven by HRH Tunku Abdul Rahman Sultan Ibrahim and Australian Nick Foster.
Johor Racing’s car number 888, driven by national speedster Jazeman Jaafar and HRH Tunku Abu Bakar Sultan Ibrahim came in second.
Despite the poor result from yesterday’s race where they finished last, Jazeman said the car showed great performance today.
“We turned our fortunes today and we fought hard for our first podium finish of the season. It goes to show that hard work really does pay off.
“It feels good to have a car on the podium both days and we want to keep the momentum going for the next rounds as there will be over 20 cars racing,” he said.
For his debut race and maiden podium finish, Tunku Abu Bakar was happy to get the achievement on home ground.
“Feels nice to get this success in SIC, and I hope we gave the family members here something to cheer for.
“Me and Jazeman work well together, we have the same approach to how we setup the car. Hopefully, we get more podiums moving forward,” he said.
EBM Giga Racing’s Setiawan Santoso and Reid Harker achieved two third-place finishes in Race 1 and Race 2.
Meanwhile, SIC chief executive officer Azhan Shafriman Hanif congratulated the home team on a successful weekend.
“It is good to see a home-grown team competing in a high-level series such as the GT World Challenge Asia and perform so well. Congratulations to them.
“Many other teams could not participate here due to logistics issues, so in the future I hope the series makes a return to SIC with more cars lining up on the grid,” he said.
The GT cars will be heading to Japan for the second round of the series at Suzuka on July 15, with the following three rounds taking place in the country, before heading to Indonesia for the final round.
In the Malaysian Championship Series, Tauhid Anwar won the Touring Production category, Putera Adam got his second victory in the S Production 1 class, Mitchell Cheah and Brendan Paul won in the Malaysian Touring Car class, while Aiyub Azlee won the S Production 2 class again.
For the GR Vios Cup, Tengku Djan and Mika Hakimi repeated their victory, Boy Wong and Nabil Azlan finished second as they did yesterday, while Hayden Haikal and Naquib Azlan crossed the line in third. – The Vibes, May 22, 2022
