After a disappointing outing in Race 3 on Friday, Australian ace, Jordan Love (#79 AUS) made an emphatic comeback on Saturday morning for the fourth race of the AsiaCup Series finale weekend with a win, his 13th of the season.
Finishing second for his fourth consecutive podium finish of the weekend was Malaysian Adam Khalid (#5 MAS) ahead of AsiaCup Super6 contender Drew Ridge (#4 AUS) taking third place. In fourth position in the race was Race 3 winner, Singaporean Danial Frost, though he would claim third place for the AsiaCup Series podium.
Race 4
Despite having Adam Khalid lined up in pole position for a dry fourth race of the weekend, the Australian made easy work of the Malaysian, getting a better start off the line to beat him for the lead into the first corner. Making amends for the previous day’s disappointment, Love was able to pull out a huge lead by the end of the opening lap.
Meanwhile, Adam Khalid’s slower start forced the Malaysian to work hard defending his spot on the track against Ridge’s charge. However, Ridge was quickly drawn into his own fight to defend third place against Race 3 winner, Frost. Given a reprieve thanks to the battle ensuing behind him, Adam Khalid was also able to pull away from the rest of the pack.
With the top two positions secured, the bulk of the intense on track fights were between Ridge and Frost for third place throughout most of the 8-lap morning race. Also involved in an epic battle for track position were Adam Haikal (#77 MAS) and Andrew Kim (#24 KOR) for fourth place.
For the race leader at the front, a clear track not only allowed Love to reestablish his dominance as the youngster took advantage of the slightly cooler track temperatures to smash the lap record with a 2:15.646s, the fastest Love has ever done on Sepang. With another dominant performance, the Aussie ace was able to close out the race with an impressive 12-second gap to Adam Khalid in second place.
Finishing third in the race was Ridge for another AsiaCup Super6 podium after managing to overcome the challenge from Frost, though the latter did claim third in the AsiaCup Series.
Jordan Love, P1 Race 4 (#79 AUS) – “It feels really great to be back on top! I am really happy to overcome the disappointment from yesterday and come back with a win. I’m also really happy with my lap time as I was able to break into the 2:15 minute mark. Overall, it was a really good race. My main focus was having a good start, and from then on to dig in and build a gap and maintain it. I managed to do that and in the end I got another win although it was quite lonely.”
Adam Khalid, P2 Race 4 (#5 MAS) – “I had a pretty decent start but Jordan was able to overtake me despite my best attempts to beat him in what was a drag race to the first corner. He was already on the outside line and had more traction. It did not work but it was also never a quiet race when Drew (Ridge) fought with me as well. But I was able to pull away from him and manage my own race when Drew got caught up with a battle with Danial. Towards the end I slowed my pace down a bit and cruise to another good result.”
Drew Ridge, P3 Race 4 (AsiaCup Super 6 only) (#4 AUS) – “Of course I am glad to be on the podium but it was a bit frustrating as I had a difficult fight with Danial, who was very strong. I really wanted to ensure that Adam Khalid did not get away to far. Anyhow, Danial and I had a really good scrap, which was fun. Anyway, there are two more races to go, so we will see what happens.”
Danial Frost, P4 in Race 4, P3 in AsiaCup Series (#66 MAS) – “After yesterday’s race, I am a bit unhappy with this result. It was not as good as it was yesterday, even though I had a really good battle with Drew, but towards the end he managed to pull a gap from me. I had a lot of understeer, which made this race a bit more challenging for me. I also had a few miss-shifts, which of course did not help my cause. Anyway, even though I would have preferred to be higher up, I am reasonably satisfied.”
Firhat Mokhzani, Race Director, AsiaCup Series – “Overall, today’s race was great as everyone has made big improvements now that they have more race experience under their belt. Jordan had a great race and even broke the lap record, which was fantastic. Also, the fight for second and third place was even more intense with a lot of changes in positions throughout the race. This really sets up what is going to be an exciting final day of the AsiaCup Series and Super6 tomorrow, particularly for the Malaysian drivers.”
