If 2014 did not go very well for Proton R3, they had definitely turned the tables over in 2015 as they proved their dominance at the fifth and final round of the Malaysia Championship Series to grab the MTC title. Though showing great potential in both of the races, it was not exactly a walk in the park for the team as the rivals are always breathing down their neck.
But Race 1 is probably the way how they wanted all their races to end as the podium was locked by Proton R3. Although Tengku Djan Ley had stressed that he was not there to collect points for the championship, he still pushed the Iriz R3 during the race to discover its potential and to further develop it for the upcoming Sepang 1000KM Race.
But it was not Djan who crossed the chequered flag in first place as it was Fariqe Hairuman who took the win in Race 1 in the Suprima S R3. Starting the race from pole position, he managed to fend off the Iriz R3 who was struggling with the pace to take the top spot at Race 1 and at the same time setting the fastest lap time ever recorded by a 1.6-liter MTC at 2:34.336. Coming in third was Syafiq Ali in the Preve R3 who started in third and finished in third place as well.
But things got a little bit messy in Race 2 where the track was getting slippery due to the sudden downpour. Getting a really good start, Syafiq’s attempt to climb to the top was hampered a couple of times as he spun at T15 during Lap 5 and came into contact with another car that resulted him spinning once again at T1 during Lap 7. Getting into another incident at T14, he managed to hang on to bring Proton a third place finish in Race 2.
James was suffering in the wet as well as his car was set up for the dry and it did not looked that the rain will be lingering around the circuit for a long time. Losing a couple of positions after being forced to back off due to an incident at T2, he spun again while giving Fitra a chase which ended up with him finishing in sixth place.
However for the Iriz R3, it seems that this new race machine prefers the wet condition of Sepang International Circuit as Djan had no problems navigating through the 5.543km circuit. Describing the car as “inspires confidence” and “easy to drive”, Djan managed to take the Iriz R3 all the way forward to finish fifth overall among the 2-liters, and of course taking the win for Race 2.
