SEPANG – The 2015 F1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix™ proved to be a perfect weekend for the Pentagon Racing team as they completed a sensational double in the Malaysia Championship Series when Alan Wong and Chris Tan both won their respective races.
Held as a support race during the Malaysia Grand Prix™, the Malaysia Championship Series (MCS)turned out to be a blast of a race as the drivers battled fast and furiously in their quest for glory. In the end through, it was Pentagon who stole the limelight when Chris claimed race 1 and Alan dominated Race 2.
The stunning MCS races were made even more memorable with the awesome performance from Singapore’s lady driver, Claire Louise Jedrek of Team R Engineering, who finished second ahead of Desmond Khoo of N1 Racing in Race 2 yesterday.
Alan had a comparatively easy win after race leader Nijay Ayyad encountered mechanical problems on Lap 4 and fell back. Soon defending champion Damien Dielenberg, Desmond and Claire all passed Nijay.
The faster Desmond and Claire left Dielenberg behind as they engaged in a private battle for second place. Alan quickly opened up a gap in front which he held on until the race was red-flagged on Lap 6 following an incident involving two Renault CLIO machines.
Driven by Song Bo of China, his #78 Renault Clio flipped into the gravel bed after an incident with compatriot Yang C. Lei. The incident brought out the red flag which resulted in Alan being declared the victor.
Commenting on his victory, Alan, who started from pole position, said that he was under instructions to drive a cautious race and not push the car at the start, which was originally scheduled for nine laps.
“It was unfortunate for Nijay to encounter technical problems. I passed him and went on with my race. I know that I have the speed and power over the other cars. The team had set up the car perfectly over the weekend. I must congratulate them for the victory. This is for them,” he said.
Delighted to score her first podium, Claire said she did not set any specific targets and was merely running her own race.“It was a great battle with Desmond. I enjoyed it very much. Desmond gave a strong fight and fortunately for me, he went wide and I passed him. Overall, I was just focusing on my own race. I focused on the apex points and the breaking points. It was a good race and I am happy to finish second,” said the 31-year old fitness celebrity.
With the win, Pentagon scored 30 points – ten points ahead of the N1 Racing’s partnership of Desmond and Tsiao Tung Wei, who has 20 points from two third places. Claire is third overall in the Touring Production championship standings with 18 points.
The Malaysian Touring Car (MTC) class also saw a double victory for Proton R3 Motorsports thanks to wins from FarigeHairuman, and James Veerapan. Team-mate Syafiq Ali was second yesterday while defending champion FitraEri of Sakura Tedco Racing completed the podium.
For the MTC championship, Fariqe and James have 30 points and an eight-point advantage over team-mate and two-time champion Syafiq, who has 22 points.
Round 2 will be held on April 26 under a one-hour endurance format.
