They conquered Round 1, and they will surely put the hammer down for Round 2. With the pace set on the opening round of the 2014 Malaysia Super Series last March, Mark Darwin and Fitra Eri from Team Sakura Tedco Racing are set to grab the podiums once again for the Malaysia Touring Production category.
Although car number 19 ran flawlessly during Round 1, a couple of developments thrown in by Rueben from Tedco Racing in preparation for Round 2 gave it an edge to the drivers to set a faster lap time around Sepang Circuit.
“We made some changes to the car for Round 2 which is why during free practice, even though the car was running on used tires and we had some traffic issue in hand, we both (Mark and Fitra) did a 2:38 and we are the only car that could do such timing in the session”, said Fitra.
With the car now running better than before, they managed to clock an impressive timing of 2:37.653 during qualifying. This had positioned them behind Lai Wee Sing and Alvaro Maurato from R-Engineering for the start of the race. The improved race machine did not only benefit them during qualifying, as it was also an edge needed to dominate the race, especially with a tough competitor like Lai Wee Sing.
“The race was very hard especially when battling with Ah Lai, who qualified in P1. We pushed really hard and there has been a lot of overtaking between me and Ah Lai. After a few laps, we finally managed to overtake him and stretched the lead,” said Mark who drove for the first stint.
After the pit stop, Fitra took over the wheels and was in a different pace than Mark’s. With Lai Wee Sing being forced to retire due to engine complications, there was not much competition in the field, but he still needed to bring the car safely to the finish line.
“Despite driving in a relaxing pace, I still managed to do a very competitive time; a sub 2:40 timing. Rueben informed me that the Proton is 14 seconds behind, so the logical thing to do is to maintain the gap and just aim for the finish line”, said Fitra.
Their fantastic driving coupled with a well-prepped machine had earned them the top spot on the podium once again in the Malaysian Touring Production category after 18 laps of racing.
Ditching the Proton Preve used in Round 1, the combination of Desmond Khoo and Tom Goh opted for the race-proven Satria Neo as their race machine in Round 2. The Preve is still in need of development, and it may make a comeback in Round 3 or 4 once it is ready.
On the qualifying session however, heavy traffic had bogged down Desmond’s attempt in clocking a faster timing. With a full tank of gas and cars all around, the fastest timing was surprisingly clocked on the first lap itself.
“Qualifying is all about having space for yourself. I did not get much space for myself but nonetheless, I tried to push as hard as I can and managed to clock a 2:39.385.I think could be better in the 2:38 region. But anyways, that is how it is going to be and I had to pit in after two laps to allow Tom to have more track time, getting him to familiarize with the car,” said Desmond.
“The start was great, when the race started I managed to overtake both the Proton R3s and assume the third position by T1. When I got to T2, someone hit me, causing me to spin a little bit but I gained control of the car. By that time, one Proton R3 was already in front of me and the other was at my side. We came into contact on T4 but nonetheless, this is racing. I came back and overtook him, and continue to overtake a couple more cars that had passed me when I was hit,” he added.
Preferring the Neo over the Preve due to the power and competitiveness, Tom took over Desmond’s place and continued their charge to the podium.
“Right after I took the wheel, I was surprised that the circuit was pretty clear. As far as I can tell, there is probably one guy in front of me, another Satria Neo, which I overtook. Shortly after before I could take him in the next corner, I was bogged down, allowing James from Proton R3 in the Preve to close in. Eventually I was too hot into T15 in my second lap, unfortunately allowed James to gain on me and passed me at the middle of the main straight.”
Nevertheless, it was definitely a better race than Round 1 as they managed to cross the finish line in fourth position.
Another car racing under the Team Sakura Tedco Racing is one driven by Mohd Afdzal and Ramsey Rizal. With the car’s performance being far below their expectation back in Round 1, it has since seen a couple of modifications to make it more competitive for Round 2.
“The car now has an ECU upgrade. We managed to shave about four seconds on free practice, and I was quite happy because we went through the qualifying and we managed to shave down another second. We clocked a 2:49 back in Round 1, but for this round we clocked a 2:44.585”, said Ramsey.
Unfortunately for them, their joy was short-lived as although they were able to maintain pace with the Mazda from Fawster Motorsport, the engine gave away during Afdzal’s drive, forcing them to retire after 14 laps of racing.
