Afiq Ikhwan claims a third win on a stifling hot Sunday at the Sentul International Circuit. Austrian driver Lucas Auer finished second while Malaysian Freddie Ang made his first appearance on the podium in third.
The JK Racing Asia Series Round 9 was marred by a massive power failure at the Indonesian circuit causing the race to be suspended after seven laps. Due to safety reasons, the race was suspended in the hopes that the circuit would be able to rectify the matter. But after a long wait there was still no power the race resumed and was completed behind the safety car.
“Midway through the race, there was a power failure. Because we went ‘blind’ in the race control, it wasn’t considered safe to continue so we suspended the race” said David Sonenscher, CEO of Motorsport Asia.
“We couldn’t declare the race at that point as finished because if we did, the distance would have been too short to have scored any points. We decided to continue the race to the point where we could declare a result, which was 75% of the distance” continued Sonenscher.
In this case, drivers will collect full points for the race.
Before the power outage, it was one of the most interesting races of the season where the battles were up and down the whole grid. Afiq Ikhwan and Lucas Auer both got off to a good start and opened up the gap to the drivers behind.
Freddie Ang, Duvashen Padayachee and Nabil Jeffri, were locked in a battle for third. Padayachee from Eurasia Motorsport was sandwiched between the two Petronas Motorsport Drivers for three laps before Jeffri found a way past. Jeffri then began to push Ang before the race was red flagged.
Further behind, it was an interesting climb by Akash Nandy, Hiqmar Danial and Irfan Ilyas. The trio began making their way up the pack from the back taking drivers at every lap. By the end of the race, Nandy crossed in sixth, followed by Danial, Raj Bharath, Ilyas and Lathouras.
Indian driver Bharath and Thailand native Pasin Lathouras were tough competitors. Meritus driver, Bharath held on to his positions and defended his line with a commendable pace.
Aaron Chang was unlucky during the race. The Eurasia Motorsport driver started off well but did not brake in time and was into the gravel at turn 2. He rejoined the race at the back of the pack and was unable to better his result, ending in last.
Natasha Seatter was also unlucky today, having a shunt on the third lap and was parked in the gravel, bringing out the safety car for one lap to clear the track.
JK Racing Asia Series
Round 9
1 88 Afiq IKHWAN MAS 25:53.946 Meritus
2 11 Lucas AUER AUT 25:54.994 Eurointernational
3 6 Freddie ANG MAS 25:55.928 PETRONAS Mofaz Racing
4 7 Nabil JEFFRI MAS 25:56.819 PETRONAS Mofaz Racing
5 45 Duvashen PADAYACHEE AUS 25:57.960 Eurasia Motorsport
6 38 Akash NANDY MAS 25:58.800 Meritus
7 8 Hiqmar DANIAL MAS 25:59.484 PETRONAS Mofaz Racing
8 58 Raj BHARATH IND 26:00.484 Meritus
9 5 Irfan ILYAS MAS 26:01.204 PETRONAS Mofaz Racing
10 3 Pasin LATHOURAS THA 26:02.992 Eurasia Motorsport
11 23 Aaron CHANG MAS 26:06.243 Eurasia Motorsport
NF 73 Natasha SEATTER MAS 3 04:51.623 Eurasia Motorsport
The JK Racing Asia Series Round 9 was marred by a massive power failure at the Indonesian circuit causing the race to be suspended after seven laps. Due to safety reasons, the race was suspended in the hopes that the circuit would be able to rectify the matter. But after a long wait there was still no power the race resumed and was completed behind the safety car.
“Midway through the race, there was a power failure. Because we went ‘blind’ in the race control, it wasn’t considered safe to continue so we suspended the race” said David Sonenscher, CEO of Motorsport Asia.
“We couldn’t declare the race at that point as finished because if we did, the distance would have been too short to have scored any points. We decided to continue the race to the point where we could declare a result, which was 75% of the distance” continued Sonenscher.
In this case, drivers will collect full points for the race.
Before the power outage, it was one of the most interesting races of the season where the battles were up and down the whole grid. Afiq Ikhwan and Lucas Auer both got off to a good start and opened up the gap to the drivers behind.
Freddie Ang, Duvashen Padayachee and Nabil Jeffri, were locked in a battle for third. Padayachee from Eurasia Motorsport was sandwiched between the two Petronas Motorsport Drivers for three laps before Jeffri found a way past. Jeffri then began to push Ang before the race was red flagged.
Further behind, it was an interesting climb by Akash Nandy, Hiqmar Danial and Irfan Ilyas. The trio began making their way up the pack from the back taking drivers at every lap. By the end of the race, Nandy crossed in sixth, followed by Danial, Raj Bharath, Ilyas and Lathouras.
Indian driver Bharath and Thailand native Pasin Lathouras were tough competitors. Meritus driver, Bharath held on to his positions and defended his line with a commendable pace.
Aaron Chang was unlucky during the race. The Eurasia Motorsport driver started off well but did not brake in time and was into the gravel at turn 2. He rejoined the race at the back of the pack and was unable to better his result, ending in last.
Natasha Seatter was also unlucky today, having a shunt on the third lap and was parked in the gravel, bringing out the safety car for one lap to clear the track.
JK Racing Asia Series
Round 9
1 88 Afiq IKHWAN MAS 25:53.946 Meritus
2 11 Lucas AUER AUT 25:54.994 Eurointernational
3 6 Freddie ANG MAS 25:55.928 PETRONAS Mofaz Racing
4 7 Nabil JEFFRI MAS 25:56.819 PETRONAS Mofaz Racing
5 45 Duvashen PADAYACHEE AUS 25:57.960 Eurasia Motorsport
6 38 Akash NANDY MAS 25:58.800 Meritus
7 8 Hiqmar DANIAL MAS 25:59.484 PETRONAS Mofaz Racing
8 58 Raj BHARATH IND 26:00.484 Meritus
9 5 Irfan ILYAS MAS 26:01.204 PETRONAS Mofaz Racing
10 3 Pasin LATHOURAS THA 26:02.992 Eurasia Motorsport
11 23 Aaron CHANG MAS 26:06.243 Eurasia Motorsport
NF 73 Natasha SEATTER MAS 3 04:51.623 Eurasia Motorsport
