On the second and final day of the Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) Racing Festival at the Batu Kawan Stadium, Penang, the Toyota Vios Challenge ended it first outing with a series of action-packed races that wasn’t short in terms of drama.
In contrast to day one, the sun was out in full force that allowed racing drives in all three classes – Promotional, Sporting and Super Sporting – to push their Toyota Vios race car to the limit.
Following an opening ceremony, visitors were allowed on the grid to get up close with the cars and drivers before the start of Race 1 for the Super Sporting Category class. With Tengku Djan topping qualifying yesterday, the ‘Prince of Drift’ was favoured to win on race day.
After 18 laps, Djan did just that, finishing ahead of Mark Darwin and Syafiq Ali, although the result is provisional due to a technical investigation. In the same race, James Verappen who was running in a race in seventh with Boy Wong, clipped the wall and retired with a broken rim.
A little later, Race 2 of the Promotional class once again saw Shawn Lee securing a second win for the weekend, ahead of Shukri Yahaya and Danny Khoo. Celebrity racers Fattah Amin and Diana Danielle had an accident that had both cars retire from the race, when the former clipped Diana’s car while attempting a brake overtaking move.
The Sporting class also had its fair share of drama in Race 2, with the 15 drivers lapping within a second of each other. With Ken Foo, Patrick Tam and Brendon Lim leading the pack at the start, the top two were in a constant tussle for first place.
It was Foo that secured the chequered flag in the end, when Tam attempted a brave overtaking manoeuvre on the final lap of the race. Unfortunately, Tam went wide going into the first corner, and slid straight into the barriers, forcing a retirement.
Shanmuganathan, who was approaching the same corner just after the incident, failed to stop in time, running into Patrick’s stagnant car and retiring as well. In the end, Kenneth Koh and Brendon Lim took the second and third spots, respectively.
In the final race of the day, Race 2 of the Super Sporting Class saw a reversed starting grid for the top three finishers of Race 1. As per regulations, the first place driver from Race 1 would also carry a 20 kg ballast for winning Race 1.
This mean Tengku Djan would start from third place and have weight added to his car. However, that didn’t stop him from dominating the race, passing Mark Darwin after a successful start and first corner.
A few laps later, Djan found his opportunity to take first place from Syafiq Ali on the third lap, making his move going into corner number ten. In that moment, both cars made contact going into the corner, sending Djan into a half spin, which he skillfully powered out of the slide. Unfortunately, it was Ali who got the worst of the incident, having to retire to the vehicle damage. From then on, Djan secured his second win of the day, ahead of Darwin and William Ho.
After a prize-giving ceremony that had a large crowd cheering for their favourite celebrities/racing drivers, the first race weekend for the Toyota Vios Challenge came to a close.
All in all, the TGR Racing Festival at Batu Kawan Stadium attracted over 28,000 visitors, who not only witnessed some exciting racing but also got to experience and amazing array of activities.
From drift shows to getting up close with the highly anticipated C-HR, there was something for everyone. The TGR Racing Festival will hold its next event from November 25-26 in MAEPS Serdang, so look forward to more details on that soon.
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I was there. Not enough seats for spectators. The grandstand had pathetically limited seats. Place lah chairs at the main stage for people to follow the race on the two giant screens. Live FB broadcast is hopeless because it keeps buffering. Portoloos had no water from noon. The track itself is not exciting because it isn’t wide enough to encourage overtaking. Hope they find a better organizer for the Serdang one.
No worries. SKVE on weekend nights plenty of space for overtakings.
If the 86 were racing, all the kelis sure eat smoke
86 is not supersport car like the mighty legendary Vios, thus it’s not there.
Oh yeah forgot. 86 is tofu car not godcar. Vios is godlike. Sure winrar.
Wow dugong can fly
Mane kimchi….? takut ka nk race…..
Bukan takut nak race, tapi Toyota “takut” nak ajak.
it’s good to have some small events in motorsports once in a while, even though it’s just a Vios racing series, helps keep motorsport scene in Malaysia alive.
Weekends on LDP, Kesas, Federal & NSE oso keeps motorsport scene in MY alive. Alive for them ricers on the other hand…
https://s2.paultan.org/image/2017/08/Toyota-Gazoo-Racing-Racing-Festival-Day-Two-35.jpg
Someone got blue black knee.. geez….
TRD quality issue… Sport rim can break.. Toyota epic kantoi
Can cover a “kampung” event but an international one in johor on the same weekend – the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship has no mention at all in Paultan??
Which part of this look kampung. Really high budget la to build street track.