Elias Seppanen had a truly fantastic weekend here at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, supporting the Malaysian Championship Series from the 27-29 September.

The Finn won three out of four races of the eighth event in the 10-event 40-race 2019 F4 SEA Championship, putting himself in first overall in the weekend ahead of the Malaysian Rocket Muizz Musyaffa.

Lucca Allen managed a strong third, despite a difficult weekend for the Irishman. He tied with Fred Peters for the position but came out on top by virtue of his faster lap in the last race.

Sohil Shah did well for himself in his first international competition to finish fifth overall ahead of fellow newcomers John Dizon, Sneha Sharma and Nico Pino.

Race 1

Race 29 saw a slight change to the start procedure with the circuit opting for a rolling start after a small issue with the starting lights. The Fiery Finn wasn’t about to let that ruin his day and put his foot to the floor coming out of turn 15, with the sizzling Irishman hot on his heels.

The duo raced into turn 1, with the usual mass of cars at the first corner, now spread out due to the rolling start. Lucca had a look up the inside but stayed behind the Finn, following in his wake around the 5.543km long circuit.

Lucca went faster in the first sector by 2 tenths, but Elias gained it back in the second sector.  Muizz Musyaffa went fastest in the third and fourth sectors, signaling the start of his attack for second place.

But the battle for fourth was already in full force. Nico Pino, Fred Peters and Sohil Shah all tussled for position. After qualifying fourth in his first ever Formula car race, Pino was doing well to keep Peters and Shah behind him.

Up front, Muizz Musyaffa had caught right up to Lucca Allen. The sizzling Irishman, now feeling the pressure from the Malaysian Rocket, had to focus on defense. This allowed Elias the chance to stretch his legs and build a gap.

The Fiery Finn did just that while Musyaffa sailed up the inside of Lucca Allen at turn 9 in one of the nicest moves we’ve seen all year. Proof that the Malaysian youngster has the talent when he can put it all together.

Back to the battle for fourth now where Fred Peters was trying again around the outside of turn 1. But he was not quite able to maintain enough momentum to cut back at turn 2 and was forced to take a less advantageous line, scrubbing his speed and compromising his exit. Whereupon Sohil Shah, a new contender this weekend, pounced!

But the Portuguese rookie has a little more experience in these F4 cars and managed to hold off the attack.

I am sure that Nico let out a sigh of relief at that point, hoping for a brief interlude from the constant pressure from behind. Unfortunately for the Chilean, things went the other way. Peters managed to make a fantastic move around the outside of turn 15, the off-camber corner giving him a unique opportunity to pounce.

Nico tried to come back at the next corner, planning to maintain his speed on the outside of turn 1 to take the position at turn 2. But after realizing he had too much understeer to stick it, the Chilean tried to tuck back in behind his Portuguese rival and unfortunately the two collided at that point, relegating Nico to sixth.

At the front of the grid the Malaysian Rocket had been busy trying to catch the Fiery Finn, but Elias was just flawless in this session, keeping his times just over a tenth faster than Muizz, eventually building a gap of 3 seconds.

Elias, Muizz and Lucca were the first past the flag, while Sneha took the leading lady trophy.

Race 2

Race 30 was a rolling start again. Continuing the trend from the morning race, but this time with a reverse grid and newcomer John Dizon on pole! John led the pack down into the first corner for the Philippines while Muizz blocked out Elias. Simultaneously Fred and Nico went either side of Sneha squeezing her out while Lucca went all the way around the outside into fourth and Muizz pinched a spot through T2.

Sohil Shah made a move up the inside of turn 4 to claim first from John, who was immediately under attack from Lucca Allen. The Filipino rookie held out while Muizz Musyaffa made his way into fourth position and Fred Peters challenged Nico Pino.

Sohil tried to use the intense battling to pull out a lead, but Lucca leaped the Filipino at the entrance of final corner and was right on the Indian driver.

Sohil held out for several laps while Elias carved his way into fourth, just behind Muizz Musyaffa. But Lucca found his way past and then to the dismay of the Indian, Muizz took made a move up the inside of turn 9 which Elias undercut to take second.

The order now was Lucca, Elias, Muizz! The sizzling Irishman had a nice lead, but Elias whittled it down to nothing and eventually found his way past Lucca at T9, repeating the manoeuvre that Muizz made on Sohil earlier in the race.

Running wide through the grass on the corner exit, Lucca was now in Muizz cross hairs allowing Elias to build a nice gap for himself while the duo were joined by Fred Peters in a battle for second!

The fight between the three drivers continued until the flag, where it was Elias, Lucca, Muizz. A great race and a good end to the day!

Race 3

Race 31 was back to a standing start and it was a welcome sight to see the pack lined up under the red lights on Sunday morning. Sneha Sharma was on pole in her purple number 9, with the entire grid on slicks in damp conditions.

At the start Fred Peters got away well, moving to the outside of Nico while Lucca Allen went up the inside. The duo squeezed out the Chilean while Sohil Shah came across the track to dive up the inside of turn 1 and snatch second. Muizz had been blocking Elias out but now went around the outside to grab third at the same corner!

Sohil claimed first soon after, starting his attack at turn 4 and sealing the deal through 5 and 6. Muizz was hot on his heels while Lucca and Elias almost went four wide with the pack into T7. The duo decided against the maneuver, perhaps wisely, but it would have been spectacular to watch.

Sohil led the rest of the lap but locked up in the damp conditions at turn 1, gifting the lead to Muizz Musyaffa.

The Malaysian Rocket had his work cut out for him with Lucca and Elias charging hard behind. It looked like Elias had the better pace, but Lucca was holding him at bay and that gave Muizz a bit of breathing room.

Meanwhile Sohil Shah had rejoined in sixth and the battle for third position between himself, Nico and Fred was intensifying! The three had been fighting hard with each other all week and even though they are new to the championship they certainly know how to put on a good show!

Muizz had been trying to pull out a lead, but Elias and Lucca weren’t letting him get away. It wasn’t until an incident at T2, where Elias went hard over the rumble strip and his front right endplate seemed to collide with Allen’s rear left tyre, that things started to change.

The sizzling Irishman was now fully defensive, and Elias was all over the back of his main competition for the championship win! With Allen squirming under braking into turn 15, Elias took second and hit the gas in a bid to catch the race leader!

Allen retired the next lap, with his rear left tyre disintegrating, indicating a slow puncture, seemingly a consequence of from the earlier collision with Elias.

From there Muizz would go on to win the race ahead of Elias and Sohil. But a steward’s inquiry after the session found that Elias had gone off track during the incident between himself and Lucca at turn 2. Upon rejoining he collided with Lucca’s rear left tyre. Because that directly caused Allen to retire and citing article 15.1/5 & 15.3.9, the stewards took the decision to disqualify Elias from the race, making the final standings, Muizz, Sohil and Fred.

Race 4

Race 32 put Elias Seppanen back on pole. The Fiery Finn lined up alongside the man who would be his main competition for the championship, Lucca Allen. Seppanen got away well, with Allen hot on his heels while Muizz Musyaffa blocked out the rest of the grid.

Elias led the race from there despite Lucca’s best efforts. The Finn responded to every fastest sector set by the sizzling Irishman, who edged out about a tenth of a second every lap and eventually earned a 1.8 second lead by the end of the race.  On the last lap he set the fastest time of the race: 2:13.602.

Muizz Musyaffa seemed to lose pace in this race, perhaps failing to take care of his tyres, lapping about 5 tenths slower than the leaders. This allowed Fred Peters to put his foot down in a bid to catch the Malaysian Rocket.

But unfortunately for Portugal Musyaffa kept his lead and Fred had to defend his position from Nico Pino and Sohil Shah.

All in all, a good end to another great weekend, even though the action was more on the timing screens than usual.

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