Malaysia’s awesome racing trio of Jazeman Jaafar, Weiron Tan and Afiq Ikhwan takes their maiden step of carrying the Malaysian flag together with a cautious approach in their first test at Chang International Circuit, Thailand this weekend.

Excited to be putting their skills and minds together as racing partners for the first time at the third round of the Asian Le Mans Series in Buriram, Thailand, all three drivers acknowledged that there was plenty for them to learn especially in fostering better understanding among themselves to work as a unit.

Jazeman said that the immediate focus for him and his new partners are to learn to understand each other, build on their strengths and develop good team work.    

“The first step is to gel together and work towards a strong result,” said the 25-year old Jazeman, who is confident that Weiron, Afiq and himself would be able to work well together despite their different racing backgrounds.

“The good point is that we all have experience competing in Asian Le Mans series. So, it’s all about enhancing this experience and putting them together,” he added.   

Echoing the views of his partner, the 23-year old Weiron said solid teamwork has always been the most important formula for success in motorsports.   

“It’ll be an exciting race coming up together with these guys. As Jazeman said, we’re going to focus on working together as a single unit and work hard towards achieving strong results,” he said.

Racing under the banner of the renowned Jackie Chan DC Racing X JOTA team, the three drivers have been selected by Sepang International Circuit (SIC) in a bid to have an all-Malaysian line-up to participate in the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours race in France in 2019. 

That dream feat, however, would need to be earned as the participation will be subjected to performance and results. The Asian Le Mans Series is the embodiment of Le Mans endurance racing for the Asian continent where each class winner of the Series will get an invitation to the Le Mans 24 Hours in France.

While Jazeman cut his teeth with single seater racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series and the Formula BMW before moving on to racing in the GT races in the Blancpain Endurance Series, Weiron made his name after finishing fourth overall in the Pro Mazda Championship in the US in 2015 after years of kart racing. 

He competed in the European Formula 3 last year with Carlin Motorsport. He also competed in the LMP3 class of the Asian Le Mans Series last year.

Eldest of the trio at 26 years old, Afiq started karting in 2007 before moving on to GT racing in 2013. Champion of Malaysia and Asia Rotax Max Challenge, Afiq won the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Series in 2015. He competed in the GT class of the Asian Le Mans Series last year.

Buriram hosts Round 3 of a four-leg Asian Le Mans Series this season. The final round will be held at SIC from 2nd to 4th February. 

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