With 2014 being a great year for them, Team Sakura-Tedco Racing is set to add another win under their belt as they welcome the fourth round of the Malaysian Super Series. The team will be fielding three cars for the race.
Young prodigy Mark Darwin will be piloting the #19 Satria Neo alone for this round as Fitra Eri had to miss out Round 4 due to other commitments. Even so, Mark is ready to handle the responsibility of steering the car to victory as demonstrated in qualifying where he had clocked the fastest time in the session with a 2:38.348, securing the pole position in the MTC category for Team Sakura-Tedco Racing.
In the #63 Glocomp Racing Satria Neo, CY Ong and Phng Wee Liang did a terrific job by clocking a fastest time of 2:39.357, slotting them in front of rivals like Proton R3 in the fourth spot on the grid. The #66 Preve also made a comeback in this round, with Ken Yap in the driver seat. With a timing of 2:43.425, he will be starting the race from ninth on the grid.
Instead of mashing the pedal to the metal, Mark had a bad start for the race as he was forced to brake instead of accelerating due to some Touring Production cars that bogged his advance. And to make things worse, a contact with one of the MTC car almost sent him to the walls on the main straight. But Mark managed to keep the car in line and make it to Turn 1 safely, which was where the real drama started.
With opponent like R Engineering’s Lai Wee Sing racing side-by-side, a fierce battle commenced between them, constantly changing positions in the early stages of the race. Although R Engineering’s machine is quicker on the straights, Tedco Racing-prepped Satria Neo is faster in the corners. So after the third lap, Mark took the lead and used the traffic to build a gap between him and his pursuers.
Pitting in early on the 6th lap, Mark used the safety car period to give the car a chance to cool down with a relaxed pace. Unfortunately R Engineering’s #39 managed to catch up after the safety car period and passed Mark during the second half of the race and went on taking the chequered flag, allowing Mark to take home the second place finish.
Satisfied with the handiwork of Rueben from Tedco Racing in setting up the #63 Satria Neo, CY Ong was more than happy that the car was able to outqualify one of the Proton R3 cars and went on with a higher fighting spirit in the race. During the race, he was battling one of the Proton R3 cars and exchanged positions a couple of times. Unfortunately a slight contact at one of the the final corners sent him into a slight skid that allowed some cars to overtake. The team called Ong to pit in during the safety car period.
After the pit stop, Phng Wee Liang took over the wheel and managed to catch up with the Proton R3’s #11 Preve under the safety car. Keeping constant pressure, he managed to pass the #11 Preve as it had some issues. Liang then moved up a couple more places by overtaking a couple more cars from the inside line of Turn 1 and catching up with Proton R3’s #12 Suprima S. But the Suprima S has more pace and the position maintained all the way to the finish line, giving Liang the fourth place finish.
For this round, Ken Yap had also prepared himself to drive the #66 Preve alone. Starting the race from ninth position, he got swamped by the crowd and got on the throttle late, allowing a number of opponents to pass him.
Not giving up that easily, he fought his way back and tried to avoid traffic by pitting in early. When he rejoined the race after the safety car period, all the cars were bunched up again and it was like the start of the race once more. Passing a couple more cars in the second half of the race, Ken Yap was able to take the car home in seventh position.
