After months of renovation, Sepang International Circuit has finally been reopened to welcome the opening round of the 2016 Malaysia Championship Series. And Team Sakura Tedco Racing wasted no chance to show their worth as they immediately dominated Round 1 by a show of force by their talented drivers Fitra Eri and Mark Darwin. Fitra, a motoring editor and also a regular in both the local and international motorsports scene, competes for the first time in the higher level Touring Production class.
With numerous experience and wins under his belt, the Indonesian driver displayed his prowess and took a comfortable win. Mark also did not disappoint as he took the win for the 1600cc championship. The wins scored by Fitra and Mark gave Sakura Tedco Racing the lead in the championships as with 40 points in the bag. Fitra gets a 15-point advantage over the duo of Lai Wee Sing and Abdul Kaathir in the Touring Production category, while Mark enjoys a 10-point advantage over Singaporean Charles Jean of TOC Motorsports.
Fitra scored a comfortable victory over R Engineering’s Abdul Kaathir in Race 1, and things were a bit tense in Race 2 where he was trailed closely by N1 Racing’s Mitchell Cheah, crossing the finish line with only 1.329 seconds to spare. The third place for Race 2 was grabbed by Boy Wong, finishing the 10-lap race in 25 minutes and 14.417 seconds.
Mark might have suffered a broken anti-roll bar in qualifying, but Race Day went on without a hitch as he took the win in both Race 1 and 2. Coming in third place in Race 1 was Kenny Lee in his Suzuki Swift, while Nick Mah took the final podium spot in Race 2, also in a Suzuki Swift. Defending champion Fariqe Hairuman now races under Viper Niza Racing suffered a catastrophic start in Round 1 as he was forced to retire in Race 1 after his Satria Neo’s engine blew up.
