Toyota Vios Challenge (Season 3, Race 3): Penang's heat and rain plague racers

PENANG: Grip levels, brakes and stamina were put to the test at the Batu Kawan Stadium in Penang for Season Three — Round Three of the Toyota Vios Challenge.

The first of the two-day event saw drivers of the professional Super Sporting category having to manage their respective cars to prevent overheating its components which saw some meeting the wall or a fellow driver as racing kicked off.

Taking the first win on the first day of racing was Tengku Djan Ley in Car #23 for 23 Motors who commanded the race from start to finish despite having the safety car roll out on lap nine to erase his 2.3-second lead after Kegani Racings Kenny Lee in Car#38 clipped the wall to end his race.

Regardless, Djan drove to victory with Mark Darwin (Car #63) and Brendan Paul (Car #22) taking second and third respectively.

A trickle of rain managed to cool the street circuit prior to the racers of the semi-professional Sporting category lining up for the second race of the day that made racing a little more tricky.

The majority of the rain held off long enough for the race to finish with Hayden Haikal (Car #81) of S&D Motorsport taking top honours while Kenneth Koh (Car #77) for Panglima City Racing Team and Adam Khalid (Car #28) for Crestmax Motorsport taking second and third respectively.

As the rains unloaded its precipitation, it was the safety car that took the race lead for the first 10 laps for the celebrity Promotional category racers with Shawn Lee (Car #6) at the head of the pack.

As soon as racing commenced, Nabil Ahmad (Car #83) found himself in a complicated situation of having to pile on the pressure on to race-leader Lee while at the same time fending off Shukri Yahaya (Car #24) who stayed aggressively glued to Nabil’s tail hoping for a mistake to transpire till the end of the race.

Day 2 saw the top six finishers of each category starting in reverse order to level the playing field with Djan, Hayden and Lee now having to start in sixth place.

Leading the order for the second day were sixth-place finishers Freddie Ang (Car #3) of Telegamas Toyota, Tom Goh (Car #33) of S&D Tama Motorsports and Jana Nick (Car #18) for the Super Sporting, Sporting and Promotional categories respectively.

This time, there was no rain in sight to douse aggression levels which ran hotter than the first day of racing – much to the excitement of 15,000 spectators.

The Super Sporting category saw Ang clinch the win in ahead of Toyotsu’s William Ho (Car #39) and defending class champion Boy Wong (Car #21).

During the first lap, Djan put his car into the wall and received and rear right puncture which relegated him to last-place but after a wheel change at the pits, he was back into contention and finished the race in sixth to earn himself and the team a point.

Competition in the Sporting class was no less intense with two safety car incidents.

Starting at the front, Goh led the pack until the second lap where a six-car pile-up brought out the safety car and again towards the closing stages of the race where Car #69’s Shanmuganathan Arumugam spun his vehicle.

A last-minute challenge from Car #55 Bradley Benedict of team Dream Chaser put him in the lead just two corners from the chequered flag to claim his first race victory of the season while Goh settled for second and Car # 12’s Haji Sutan Mustaffa Salihin for third.

The last race of the day, in the Promotional class, had Shukri, Nabil and Lee again taking first, second and third respectively after 20 laps of intense driving.

Shukri managed to pass race leader Jana on the second lap and then yielded to fast-paced Nabil on lap four.

Unfortunately, Jana’s car made contact with Lee’s and saw the actress’ car pointed in the wrong direction and out of contention just four laps to the chequered flag to end the round three of the Toyota Vios Challenge one-make race series.

The race series will now look to the Sepang International Circuit to play host for the last and final round (Round 4) and will be held from Apr 17 to 19.

For fans in Penang, the excitement of the Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) Festival included the display and test drive of Toyota’s fleet of new vehicles, a drift performance by Japanese drifters courtesy of Toyo Tires

Also, fans were able to partake in other activities that included a racing simulator challenge, stage games, celebrity performances, promotional activities, lucky draws, merchandise and a Super Fans Signing Session for a chance to mingle with the celebrities racing in the Promotional class.

Other attractions were a fleet of motorcycles and merchandise on display and sale by Harley Davidson and Moto Guzzi, a bey blade competition, the sale of Hot Wheels die-cast models, a concert by popular local band Hujan, and a display by the Art of Speed. The final day of the TGR Festival also kicked off with a fun run within the street circuit and Zumba fitness session.

As an added bonus, all vehicles purchased during the two-day event also came with a RM200 complimentary service voucher.