As soon as the lights were out, the Toyota Gazoo Racing Vios Challenge kick things into high gear right from the start. Perhaps, it is the extended lockdown that made the racers hungry for speed, which led to the most intense race ever. The Round 2 of the Vios Challenge saw door-to-door dogfights in all four classes at the Sepang International Circuit.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing Vios Challenge race is being broadcast live over Toyota’s website and Facebook page as it is held strictly without the presence of spectators as a safeguard measure against the pandemic. Despite the online streaming, the race saw its highest viewership at more than 2,000,000 views.
To refresh, the Toyota Gazoo Racing Vios Challenge consists of four racing classes — Rookie, Sporting, Super Sporting and Promotional. The Rookie Class features five graduates of the Gazoo Racing Young Talent Development Program who are stepping out from karting and simulated and into a race car for the first time. The Sporting Class will field amateur drivers and the Super Sporting Class are reserved for Malaysia’s elite and professional drivers. While it may seem like a gimmick, the Promotional Class, which features celebrities, often bears witness to the best racing.
Making their debut in the one-make race is Mitchell Cheah (Malaysian touring car driver), Ady Rahimy (Sepang Talent Development Program driver), Faidzil Klang (MMER champion) and Lau Seng Kiat (Malaysia Championship Series driver).
SUPER SPORTING
Touring car driver Mitchell Cheah dominated from start to finish in the 20-lap race, collecting the chequered in the process. This is followed by Laser Motor Racing’s Mark Darwin 0.7 seconds adrift, and M7 Japan Project Team’s Sayfiq Ali in third place.
Cheah, who was making his debut in the Vios Challenge with 23 Motors, set a blistering pace throughout Practise and Qualifying to clock 1 min: 25.618 seconds for pole position. Being on the front row of the grid, he made a brilliant start in the race but was only able to marginally pull away from the rest of the field. Only second and third places remained up for grabs and the rest of the racers were pulling to punches to finish on the podium.
In the opening laps of the race, Telagamas Toyota’s Freddie Ang was in contention for the second position with Mark in third, and championship leader Tengku Djan Ley Tengku Mahaleel in the fourth position. However, eight laps later, Mark overtook to consolidate his place for second place. Ang tried to hang on for third but could not stop a charging Syafiq who inevitably proved to become the biggest gainer in the race, finishing third despite starting from as far back as ninth on the grid.
Carrying an extra 40kg of ballast by winning two consecutive races in Round 1, Tengku Djan Ley struggled all weekend with the extra weight. He managed be the fourth quickest, however, brushing with the concrete on the exit of Turn 8 saw him finish in 14th place with a puncture.
SPORTING CLASS
Debutant Ady Rahimy was hardly intimidated by the competition to lead the 20-lap race from start to finish. He had built a 4.5 seconds gap as early as the second lap although that disappeared in Lap 15 when the safety car was brought out.
The race resumed with one lap to the finish, which became a sprint to the chequered flag. In the end, Ady was 0.6 seconds ahead of Dream Chaser’s Bradley Benedict Anthony. Distinctive Model’s Clement Yeo took the last podium placement.
The battle for second and third positions was intensely fierce with Yeo, Aylezo Motorsports’s Mirza Syahmi and Bradley exchanging places on several occasions with less than half a second separating all three drivers.
Bradley however, attacked consistently despite coming under pressure and managed to get ahead of Yeo in the penultimate stages of the race.
ROOKIE CLASS
The 20-lap race was won by current championship leader Naquib Azlan who clinched his third straight victory in three races for a hat trick. Coming in second was Mika Hakimi while in third was Amer Harris.
Starting from third on the grid, Naquib paced himself patiently, observing the battle ahead involving Putera Adam and pole position driver Mika before mounting his attack for the lead in the closing stages of the race.
Putera Adam, 14, drove a compelling race that saw him clinch the lead in the 11th lap. He was within five laps of what could have potentially been his first-ever race victory until a race incident forced him into retirement. Jwan Hii finished fourth.
PROMOTIONAL CLASS
Starting from pole position Shukri Yahaya made a brilliant start from pole position to lead the race from start to finish. Finishing second was Nabil Ahmad followed by Nabila Razali in third place.
The opening stages of the race saw Shukri pull away with a comfortable lead as Nabil and fellow racer Zizan Razak locked horns for the second position. Both drivers were unwilling to give up an inch and exchanged places for second several times in Lap 2 before contact between the two of them resulted in a damaged suspension for Zizan who was forced into retirement.
That incident promoted Akio Takeyama to third but brought out the safety car for two laps. The fight for third was intense with Takeyama having to fend off challenges from Ahirine Ahirudin and Nabila Razali for several laps. The two ladies eventually found their way through Takeyama.
Fighting back for the position, contact between Takeyama and Ahirine however, promoted Nabila into third.
For Shukri, the safety car erased whatever gap he had built and he once again found himself under pressure from Nabil. The actor, however, kept his head down and put in consistent lap times over the remaining 10 laps to build his lead from 3.8 seconds to a massive 14.7 seconds ahead of Nabil for the race victory with Nabila in third.
The biggest gainer in the race, however, proved to be Nabila who jumped five places from eighth on the grid to third on the podium.
Round 3 and the season finale of the Vios Challenge will be held from 20 to 21 November 2021. The Sepang International Circuit will once again host the races with floodlights in full use.
