Leona Chin Faces Acid Test to Defend Lead in MCS
MALAYSIA CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES ROUND 4
Saturday, 24 August 2019 - In what could be her biggest challenge in her Malaysia Championship Series (MCS) career, top lady driver Leona Chin faces a three-way onslaught from the ‘champion drivers’ of Malaysia’s top racing outfit Proton R3 Motorsports in Sepang this weekend as she defends a slim lead in the M-Production class at the fourth round of the series.
Leading the Proton R3 onslaught will be winners of last season’s Sepang 1000km (S1K) race – which is the longer equivalent of the M-Production class race – Fariqe Hairuman and partner Syafiq Ali, who have 53 points from the three opening rounds; trailing Leona by two championship points with four more races to go including two races this weekend.
Returning to the competition for Round 4 to support Fariqe and Syafiq is former Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race (MMER) champion, Admi Shahrul Ahmad Safian – who will be driving his winning 2017 S1K race Proton Saga this weekend. The trio will be joined by former MCS Touring Production champion and WTCR driver Mitchell Cheah, who will be driving the Proton Suprima S.
“It’s going to be a tough round to maintain my lead in championship points standing. I am only two points away from the 2nd contender. Hopefully, me and my team will be able to collect enough points this round to maintain at the top the championship when we go into the final round,” said Leona, who drives a Suzuki Swift machine for Tedco Racing.
Winner of more prestigious titles including the Asian Touring Car Championship and Japan’s Super Taikyu in his brilliant career, Fariqe is looking to have a better set-up of the car for both races this weekend and score as many points possible.
“The aim for us this weekend is to collect more points and also be prepared for our biggest race of the year which is Sepang 1000km. I’m hoping to get better setup for the car so that it can handle well during the races,” said Fariqe, who is hoping to get a better result for both races this round after a bad result at the opening race of Round 3.
Commenting on his return, Admi said that he was thrilled to be in action in the series and looking forward for a strong performance in a factory race car. “My racing ’Saga’ continues. Back in the factory race car. Received an invitation by Proton R3 for the rest of the season with them. Second bite on the cherry,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Currently fourth in the championship standings with 34 points, defending champion CY Ong expects stiff competition for his Team HI REV Dream Chaser drivers.
“Competition in the class has been strong with the return of factory team R3 dominating the podium. On our side, we have done power band and handling improvement; hoping to be able to compete side by side with the R3 folks. Hopefully, we can have some good results this round,” said CY, who competes with youngster, Adam Khalid.
“Lady drivers Sophia from Germany and e-Sports racer Angeline Lee, are both improving very well, aim to be clocking below 2 minutes 45 seconds to compete in mid pack,” added CY, who is also the team owner.
In the premier T-Production class, defending champion Mark Darwin, who sits in third place in the championship standings with 45 points, hopes for better luck in Round 4 as he expects another tough weekend.
“We would just focus to run a trouble-free race with the car and collect as much valuable points to keep the championship hunt alive,” he said when asked on his views on this weekend’s championship battle.
With two more rounds to go, Singaporean partnership of Teh Kian Boon and Desmond Soh of ST Wangan Racing Team has a total haul of 59 points; holding a single point lead over the Malaysian partnership of Farouk Abdul and Lai Wee Sing of R Engineering, who has 58 points.
Apart from MCS, fans can also catch actions from international championships with the Asia Classic Car Challenge, Asian Formula Renault; TCSA by IMSP and Formula 4 SEA Championship in this three-day event; beginning Friday.
Top 5 Leaders After 3 Rounds
M-Production Class
- Leona Chin (Suzuki Swift) 55 pts
- Fariqe Hairuman / Syafiq Ali (Proton Iriz) 53 pts
- Chai Kok Hoe / Wong Hau Rean (Suzuki Swift) 34 pts
- CY Ong / Adam Khalid (Satria Neo) 34 pts
- Farid Sani / Lau Joo Yong (Suzuki Swift) 32 pts
T-Production Class
- Teh Kian Boon / Desmond Soh (Mercedes AMG A45) 59 pts
- Abdul Kaathir Mohamed / Lai Wee Sing (Honda FD2 R) 58 pts
- Mark Darwin (Honda FD2 R) 45 pts
- Jonathan Xie (Honda CIV) 38 pts
- William Ho / Rocky Siow (Honda FK) 30 pts
S-Production 1 Class
- Ken Urata / Masahiko Ida (Honda Civic FD2) 64 pts
- Mohd Zuraimi Mustapha / Ahmad Tarmizi Tahang (Honda Civic FD2) 60 pts
- Brendan Paul (Honda Civic FD2) 57 pts
- Paul Fan (Honda Civic FD2) 32 pts
- Leon Khoo (Honda Civic FD2) 29 pts
S-Production 2 Class
- Ady Rahimy Rashid (Suzuki Swift) 84 pts
- Chong Kiat Wai / Takashi Ito (Suzuki Swift) 71 pts
- Tam Yiu Kee / Lo Kai Fung (Honda Fit RS) 58 pts
- Mohamad Hayden Mohamad Haikal (Toyota Vios) 52 pts
- Nasharuddin Abd Aziz / Nurul Husna Nasharuddin (Honda Jazz) 31 pts
MCS ROUND 4 - RACE PROGRAMME
Friday, 23 August 2019
1030 hrs – 1100 hrs Asian Formula Renault Free Practice (30 min)
1115 hrs – 1145 hrs TCSA by IMSP Free Practice 1 (30 min)
1200 hrs – 1230 hrs F4 SEA Championship Free Practice (30 min)
1430 hrs – 1500 hrs Malaysia Championship Series Free Practice (30 min)
1515 hrs – 1540 hrs Asian Formula Renault Qualifying (25 min)
1555 hrs – 1625 hrs TCSA by IMSP Free Practice 2 (30 min)
1640 hrs – 1710 hrs F4 SEA Championship Qualifying (30 min)
1725 hrs – 1755 hrs Malaysia Championship Series Qualifying (30 min)
Saturday, 24 August 2019
1000 hrs – 1030 hrs Asian Formula Renault Race 1 (10 laps or 30 min)
1045 hrs – 1115 hrs TCSA by IMSP Qualifying (30 min)
1135 hrs – 1200 hrs F4 SEA Championship Race 1 (20 min plus leader)
1215 hrs – 1245 hrs Classic Car Free Practice (30 min)
1310 hrs – 1340 hrs Asian Formula Renault Race 2 (10 laps or 30 min)
1405 hrs – 1435 hrs TCSA by IMSP Race 1 (10 laps or 30 min)
1455 hrs – 1520 hrs F4 SEA Championship Race 2 (20 min plus leader)
1535 hrs – 1605 hrs Classic Car Qualifying (30 min)
1630 hrs – 1735 hrs Malaysia Championship Series Race 1 (1 hour plus leader)
Sunday, 25 August 2019
0915 hrs – 0945 hrs Classic Car Race 1 (10 laps or 30 min)
1005 hrs – 1030 hrs F4 SEA Championship Race 3 (20 min plus leader)
1055 hrs – 1125 hrs TCSA by IMSP Race 2 (10 laps or 30 min)
1150 hrs – 1220 hrs Classic Car Race 2 (10 laps or 30 min)
1245 hrs – 1320 hrs Asian Formula Renault Race 3 (30 min plus 1 lap)
1345 hrs – 1450 hrs Malaysia Championship Series Race 2 (1 hour plus leader)
1510 hrs – 1535 hrs F4 SEA Championship Race 4 (20 min plus leader)
For more information, please contact SIC National Press Officer Nor Lina Ayob at norlina.ayob@sepangcircuit.com.