SEPANG DRAG BATTLE – ROUND 2 

Sheikh Mohd Salimee Mohd Fawzi and Ahmad Maziz Abdullah – both defending champions in their respective classes at Sepang Drag Battle – bounced back in Round 2 at Sepang Circuit to put their title aspirations back on track for the new season.

Entering Round 2 with any points last Saturday night (May 7), Salimee and Maziz, defending the crowns for Class A and C respectively, were back at their best to sweep aside their rivals to collect five precious championship points and put themselves firmly on the 2011 title charge.

“My worry has always been about the rain. You know that I race on slick tyres and there’s no way to compete on a wet track. So, I am happy that the track was dry for Round 2 and hopefully the next three rounds will also see a dry track.

“I came for the opening round … but, it rained that day and the race was on a wet track. I simply cannot race on the wet; and just became a spectator that day. It was frustrating. But, if the track is dry, you will definitely see my Nissan go,” said Salimee, who now shares the championship lead for Class A with Round 1 winner Suzaimi Ahmad.

Suzaimi, who lost to Salimee in the semi-final run, failed to score any points for the round after failing to get his car ready for the third-placing contest. His challenger, Ahmad Firdaus Azman, who could not get his car to the starting grid; forcing the organizers to cancel the contest.

It was the same case for Class B when the two losing semi-finalists – Ahmad Mamduh Mohamed and Tan Wee Kiong - failed to get their cars ready for the third-place contest as no drivers were named as the third and fourth placed winners.

The class, which is competed by two-wheel drive cars without any limit on engine capacity but with limited forced induction, was won by Mohd Amirullah Mohd Ali, who defeated Mohd Syukri Mohd Nor in the final run. On his way to the crown, Amirullah also ended the challenge of Round 1 winner, Ahmad Mamduh Mohamed in quarter-final run.

With the results, both Amirullah and Ahmad Mamduh are currently tied at the top of the point standings for Class B with five points.

Like Salimee, Maziz also had a frustrating opening round encounter at the opening round on March 19 when the engine of his Class C Honda Civic broke in the preliminary round. It was, however, a different story in Round 2 as the defending champion had a smooth outing; beating Ahmad Firdaus Azman in the final run to take home his first championship points for the season.
Defe
“Obviously, I am happy to win the round. It wasn’t so good in Round 1,” said Maziz, who is now tied at the top of the point standings for Class C for two-wheel drive natural aspirated cars up to 2,000cc cars with Firdaus and Ikmy Adzwan Jamuri, who won Round 1.

Second in the opening Nur Faizun Nasri scored a notch higher in Round 2 to win Class D; turning the tables on his Round 1 conqueror Khairul Anwar Ahmad, who had to be contended as the first runner-up for the round.

In the battle for Class Fv for street-legal cars with V-Tec engines, Mohd Iqram Ismail Tajinder, who was third in the opening round, outclassed his brother and Round 1 winner, Mohd Iqbal to win the round.

Slotted against each other in the semi-finals, Iqram blazed through the 402-meter run in an amazing 12.672 seconds to deny Iqbal, who took 12.753 seconds. In the final, Iqram defeated Mohd Hanapi Ismail to take first place while Iqbal took third place and two championship points by taking third spot.   

In the battle of the street-legal cars without V-Tec engines, it was agony again for Mohd Tuah Kamaruddin, who lost in the final for the second successive time - this time to Fareed Hamis. In Round 1, Tuah was beaten by Ikmy Adzwan Jamuri, who did not competed in Round 2.

More than 5000 thousand spectators attended the race at the circuit.