It was a good clean race right from the start on the drying Bira Circuit where returning Asian Touring Car Series 2007 Champion (Division 2) Masaki Kano, took his first pole to flag win this year. The Japanese driver took a year-long break from racing to concentrate on work and was immediately on form to claim the win for Liqui Moly Team Engstler in the absence of Jack Lemvard. Kano crossed the line in 23:26.581 to claim first 25.879 seconds ahead of Thai’s touring car driver Kajohnsak Na Songkla and Hong Kong driver Danny Stacy Chau.

“Just before the race there was rain which caused a little bit of a headache as we had to decide whether to run on wet or dry tyres. In the end, we decided to go ahead on slicks. In the first four laps, it was still quite wet but after that the circuit dried out a little more which allowed me to make full use of the slicks. After that it was quite easy to drive” said Kano during the post race press conference.

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PATTAYA: It was a bitter sweet day for Team Proton Axle driver Syafiq Ali, who won the Asian Touring Car 1500 Max Series drivers’ crown at the Bira Circuit near here today.

The youngster, who was trailing teammate Fadzil Alang going into today’s final two races, finished second in Round 11 to clinch the overall title but his joy at winning the title was soured when Faidzil was involved in an accident which saw his car roll over three times.

Faidzil made a good start but was then punted into a series of barrel rolls when Thailand’s C. Pisanu tried to block him. Thankfully for the Malaysian driver, he escaped with hardly any injuries. He, however, could not continue racing and this handed the championship to Syafiq.

Faidzil said “I was coming alongside Pisanu when he turned suddenly into me. There was nothing I could do and it cost me the championship.” Read more

Although the situation may seem to be tense in the heart of Bangkok with demonstrations in front of the Government office and the subsequent declaration of state of emergency, the Asian Festival Of Speed will still go on at Bira Circuit in Pattaya as scheduled this weekend.

The event is set to host three Series, the Asian Touring Car Series (ATCS), the ATCS 1500Max Challenge (1500Max) and the guest series, Formula Asia 2.0, alongside a few Thai based club races that are participating as supporting events.

The AFOS Bira will also be the season ender for the ATCS and the 1500Max with the Championship trophies being handed out to the overall winners for both Series.   Read more

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 4 2008): After 10 intense rounds, veteran driver Faidzil Alang and his protégé Syafiq Ali have two races to decide the inaugural winner of the Asian Touring Car 1500 Max Series.

The showdown between the two Team Proton Axle drivers will take place at Chengdu Goldenport Circuit, China, this weekend with just eight points separating them at the top of the standings. Faidzil leads with 115 points after an exciting match-up in Thailand last month gave him the edge. Read more

Local Touring car ace, Jack Lemvard and Formula car racing hero Robert ‘Chawakij’ Boughey are both looking forward to heading to Thailand for their home race during the Asian Festival Of Speed at the Bira Circuit in Pattaya next month. Lemvard, currently leads the Asian Touring Car Series leaderboard while Boughey has only competed in one round of the Formula Asia 2.0 so far. Read more

It is halfway through the season and all five championships in the Asian Festival Of Speed have been blown wide open coming into the Indonesian leg of the season. It is still anyone’s game at this point and the current Title leaders will not be able to sit easy in Sentul this weekend. Drivers and teams will be heading to the town of Bogor in West Java to compete in an action packed weekend at the Sentul International Circuit from 19-20 July 2008. Read more

Faidzil Alang claimed his second ATCS 1500Max Challenge win for the season when he crossed the line with a total time of 27minutes 46 seconds. He was joined on the podium by team-mates Sanjeev Palar and Mohd Azry, completing an all Proton Axle Racing podium for Division 1 today.

It was a good and clean race held under hot weather conditions, which proved to be a challenge for the drivers. There was only one incident, when on lap 17, Izmi Omar had an engine failure and slowed down at turn two, driving on to turn four to park the car on the outside of the circuit, which caused the Officials to bring out the Safety Car for one lap, whilst they moved the car to a safe position. Read more

Jack Lemvard took the chequered flag in a hot and action packed Round 5 Asian Touring Car Series race at Sepang International Circuit today. The Thai driver reclaimed the lead in the Championship points table after being on equal points with his great rival, Melvin Choo, going into this race.

As the lights went off for the start of the race, the 20 car grid got off the lines clean and with the top six being positioned in a reverse grid order, with Daniel Amante Gomes in pole, there was a great rush to the first turn. Read more

After a tough outing four weeks ago, Asian Touring Car Series driver, Melvin Choo was left wanting to forget the bad and looking forward to a second chance to make an impact when the series returns to the Malaysian circuit this weekend.

The Singaporean was faced with a tough fight in the opening rounds of the Series when he encountered problems with the engine of his BMW 320si before the qualifying session. The engine failure left him with no choice but to use a Honda Integra tuned to Division 1 specifications for the first two rounds. Read more

The Asian Touring Car Series returns to the Sepang International Circuit this weekend for Rounds 4 & 5 of the 2008 season. 24 drivers have been confirmed to run on 2.807km North circuit in the ATCS as part of the Malaysian Super Series event.

It was a dramatic start to the season during the Asian Festival Of Speed Event just four weeks ago. There were five front running Division 1 drivers vying for the win but Melvin Choo became the first casualty when the engine of his BMW 320si expired before the qualifying sessions leaving the Singaporean to run the first two rounds in his Honda Integra. Read more