Singaporeans Tops Race 1 of MCS Round 3
Saturday, 13th July 2019 - Singapore’s Teh Kian Boon and Jonathan Xie ruled Round 3 of the Malaysia Championship Series (MCS) as they outpaced their Malaysian rivals to score a commanding 1-2 in a brutal one-hour steamy endurance race under sweltering temperatures at Sepang International Circuit today.
Teh of ST Wangan Racing Team, who opted to break away for his partner, Desmond Soh to drive solo for the round, pushed his Mercedes AMG A45 machine hard as early as the cars broke away from it rolling start to take over race leadership from pole sitter and two-time champion, Mark Darwin, who was driving a Honda FD2 R.
The duo both fought hard at the front as they exchanged leads and Teh dropped down the race order when he, in his intensity, slipped off to the gravel bed on Lap 3; but managed to return to continue his race, which was then helped by the entry of the Safety Car as track marshals were sent into the track to manage stream of oil on the track from a broken car engine.
With the awesome power and pace of his Mercedes machine, Teh managed to take control of the race; and eventually completing 21 laps of the 5,543-meter track; finishing 5.185 seconds ahead of his compatriot, Jonathan, who was driving a Honda CIV machine. Malaysian Alif Hamdan of R-Engineering completed the podium for the premier T Production class.
Pole sitter Darwin failed to finish the race. Darren Ong in another Mercedes AMG A45 machine also had a DNF in the race, which started at 2.15 pm under scorching heat.
The M Production, or the Malaysia Touring Car category, was won by Malaysia’s top driver Mitchell Cheah, who completed 21 laps in his Proton Suprima for R3 Motorsports in 1 hour 3 minutes 35.572 seconds; beating the partnership of CY Ong and the young Adam Khalid of Team HIREV Dream Chaser. Championship leader Leona Chin, who partnered Goh Lee Heng for the round completed the podium.
The S Production (SP 1) Class was topped by Brendan Paul of R-Engineering; taking his Honda Civic FD2 across the chequered flag in 1 hour 2 minutes 11.600 seconds to complete 21 laps; beating team-mates Hafez Kamarudin and Sim Kwong Teck to second place.
An all-Japanese partnership and championship leader Ken Urata and Masahiko Ida of RWORKS Racing took third place.
2018 e-MCS champion and SIC Talent Development Programme driver, Ady Rahimy Rashid continued his superb debut season by scoring another win in the S Production (SP 2) Class category; completing 20 laps in his Suzuki Swift in the one-hour contest. Representing HIREV SIC Dream Chaser, Ady, who was carrying 50kg of additional weight in success ballast, enhanced his place at the top of the championship with another 15 championship points to bring his total haul to 69 points.
The Macau partnership of Lo Kai Fung and Zebedee Tay took second place in their Honda Fit RS machine for Riyoz Racing; finishing ahead of Malaysia’s teenage sensation Mohamad Hayden Mohamad Haikal, who took third place.
Race 2 will be held tomorrow along with a double header in the Asia Classic Car Challenge; and Round 8 of the prestigious Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2019 season and Race 3 for the Sepang weekend.
Fans can catch all the actions from the Main Grandstand with no entry fee. They can also follow all the race actions live on SIC’s Facebook page,
Results – Race 1 - Round 3 MCS 2019
T Production Class
1.Teh Kian Boon (Mercedes AMG A45) - 21 laps (1:01:16.685s)
2. Jonathan Xie (Honda Civic FD2) – 21 laps
3. Alif Hamdan (Honda Civic FD2 R) – 21 laps
4. Abdul Kaathir / Lai Wee Sing (Honda Civic FD2) – 21 laps
5. Jimmy Ng (Honda Civic FD2 R) – 21 laps
S Production (SP 1) Class
1.Brendan Paul (Honda Civic FD2) - 21 laps
2. Hafez Kamarudin / Sim Kwong T eck (Honda FD2) – 21 laps
3. Ken Urata / Masahiko Ida (Honda Civic FD2) – 21 laps
4. Mohd Zuraimi Mustapha / Ahmad Tarmizi Tahang (Honda Civic FD2 ) – 21 laps
5. Ahmad Tarmimi / Paul Fan (Honda FD2 R) – 21 laps
M Production class (Malaysia Touring Car)
1.Mitchell Cheah (Proton Suprima) - 21 laps
2. Ong Chee Yong / Adam Khalid (Suzuki Swift Sport) – 21 laps
3. Leona Chin / Goh Lee Heng (Suzuki Swift) – 21 laps
4. Fariqe Hairuman / Syafiq Ali (Proton Iriz) - 20 laps (1:01:28.607s)
5. James Veerapen (Proton Saga) – 20 laps
S Production (SP 2) Class 1.Ady Rahimy Rashid (Suzuki Swift) - 20 laps (1:02:48.455s)
2. Lo Kai Fung / Zebedee Tay (Honda Fit RS) – 20 laps
3. Mohamad Hayden Mohamad Haikal (Suzuki Swift) – 20 laps
4. Nurul Husna Nasharuddin/ Nasharuddin Abd. Aziz (Honda Jazz) – 20 laps
5. Brendon Lim (Toyota Vios) – 20 laps
For more information, please contact SIC National Press Officer Nor Lina Ayob at norlina.ayob@sepangcircuit.com.