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.
Alang sealed the victory for his team when he translated his great start into a win. “I did a good start. As I planned, I stayed on the inside and I managed to overtake the pole car of Aaron Lim. From there I had a good lead but I also had a few Division 2 cars in front of me. But I learnt from yesterday to not push too hard, too early and just maintain my pace. So I kept it constant all the way”.
The final race for the season for Palar proved to be one the most exciting for him. “I am ecstatic. I am very very happy. We had some problems yesterday, I felt there was pace in the car and I thought I could have gotten a decent finish yesterday but it didn’t happen. So I came back here today and wanted to attack this race and to extract the maximum from myself this round”.
Although he is a newcomer to touring car races, Azry has managed to impress with his third placed finish today. The youngster maintained a consistent pace and benefited from his team mates troubles, “I’m racing in the touring car series for the first time in my life. I did really good actually. I started in seventh today and managed to keep a consistent pace but the first corner was difficult for me and everyone managed to pass me. After that I just maintained my position and when Syafiq Ali had the problem, I got the third place”.
Malaysian guest driver, Khairul Zaman took the Division 2 win ahead of compatriot, Indran Kanavaji. Both drivers were really happy at being able to be a part of the 1500Max Series, as Kanavaji summed it up, “Its amazing. It is really good to win obviously but it’s a lot of hard work. Winning these races means a lot to me and it is something that I can really cherish”.
Faidzil Alang currently leads the championship with 54 points, just 4 points ahead of his team mate Syafiq Ali.
Rounds 5 and 6 of the Asian Touring Car Super 1500Max Challenge will be held at Sentul International Circuit during the Asian Festival Of Speed on 18-20 July 2008.
Visit www.afos.com for further details.
