Two-time champion Lai Wee Sing is fast losing his grip on the prestigious Sepang Drag Battle crown as closest challenger Dixon Chen scored a sensational second win of the season in Round 2 at Sepang Circuit last Saturday (May 31).

Watched by some 5,000 ardent fans and a brigade of fans from his Johor Bahru hometown, Lai’s fully modified Proton Satria encountered problems while preparing for his semi final tie in the open category in the pits against Mohd Putra and was forced to forfeit.

“We got problem with the gasket … the gasket was leaking. We have no choice but withdraw from the semi final,” said the R-Engineering team principal, who was forced to forfeit to Mohd Farriz Fauzi in the battle for third placing.

Lai Wee Sing Loses Hold On Drag Crown

Against Dixon in the final race, Mohd Putra’s Proton Wira machine found no answer to the power of his rival’s Mitsubishi Evo machine, which completed the 400-metre drag in 11.757 seconds. Mohd Putra clocked 12.319 seconds.

The win gave Dixon another five points, giving him now a total of 10 points against Lai’s haul of four points for second place overall. Mohd Putra is third with three points and three more rounds to go.

“It’s going to be difficult, but we are not giving up. Anything can happen in motor racing and our priority will now be to win the next round and keep touch with Dixon,” said Lai as he looked forward for Round 3 on August 16.

Categorised as the premier Class A, the open class attracted a total of nine entries of full modified cars where turbo-charged and supercharged engines were allowed as well as the Nitrous Oxide System power booster.

Competing on Sepang Circuit’s front straight, the cars takes just less than 13 seconds to cover a 400-meter stretch of track; spitting flames; screaming roars in full speed to the cheers of the crowd.

Results Round 2

Class A – Open (Turbocharged and supercharged allowed; Nitrous Oxide system allowed)
POSITION	TRACK
First	Dixon Chen Teck Sun (Mitsubishi Evo IV)
Second	Mohd Putra (Proton Wira)
Third	Mohd Farriz Fauzi (Nissan Skyline)
Fourth	Lai Wee Sing (Proton Satria)
Class B – 2WD Forced Induction (Only one power adder allowed; 2WD vehicles only)
First	Mohd Zamri Ahmad
Second	Khairul Anuar
Third	Chua Soon Chuan
Fourth	Mohd Iqbal
Class C – 2WD Normally Aspirated (only naturally aspirated engines allowed; NOS system probihited)
First	Ahmad Firdaus Azman
Second	Mohd Maziz Abdullah (Honda)
Third	Mohd Iqbal Ismail
Fourth	Hanizam Alias
Class D – 2WD Limited (engines 1600cc and below; only naturally aspirated engines; NOS system probihited)
First	Mohd Yusof
Second	Mohd Fuad Ismail
Third	Mohd Aimi Abd Mutalib
Fourth	Mohd Rasul
Class E – K-Car (Engines 1000cc and below; turbo-charged & supercharged engines allowed; NOS probihited)
First	Azery Mohd Norzali (Perodua Kancil)
Second	Mohd Fariz Nordin
Third	Mohd Nor Abdul Rahman
Fourth	Idris Abd Rahman
Class F – Avantech On The Road Class (Engines 2000cc and below: turbocharged/supercharged probihited; variable valve engine allowed; NOS probihited; cars must be road legal)
V-Tec Category
First	Baharul Aslan Abu Bakar (Honda Civic)
Second	Suhaimi Hamid (Honda Civic)
Third	Mohd Reduan Baharuddin (Honda Civic)
Fourth	Ooi Wei Siong (Honda Civic)
Non V-Tec Category
First	Mezam Akram
Second	Mohd Johan Khairuddin
Third	Ahmad Nizam Ibrahim
Fourth	B. Geevan Baskaran
Class G – Campro (Campro Naturally Aspirated engines; up to 1601cc; suspension, brake system; engine management; gearbox & ratio free)
First	Ahmad Firdaus Azman
Second	Mark Darwin
Third	Heryandy Ramli
Fourth	Nor Azam

SEPANG DRAG BATTLE 2008

Race Schedule – Race Starts 2100hrs
Round	Track	Date
Round 1	Sepang Circuit	5 April 2008
Round 2	Sepang Circuit	31 May 2008
Round 3	Sepang Circuit	16 August 2008
Round 4	Sepang Circuit	25 October 2008
Round 5	Sepang Circuit	15 November 2008

For more details, contact the Press Officer Azhar Ghazali at 019-3837865.

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