The second and final day of round 3 of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival and Toyota Vios Challenge street racing series concluded with three dramatic races at the Batu Kawan Stadium in Penang.
Action in the Super Sporting, Sporting and Promotional classes for professional, amateur and celebrity racers respectively had more than 15,000 spectators over the two days at the edge of their seats.
Super Sporting Class
In the Super Sporting class, Freddie Ang driving for Telagamas Toyota clinched the win in Race 2 ahead of Toyotsu’s William Ho and defending class champion Boy Wong.
Freddie made a brilliant getaway from the front of the grid to lead the 22 lap race from start to finish with Ho in close pursuit but not having the right opportunity to overtake. For Ho, setting for second place was a strategic decision to keep his championship hopes alive.
The day however, did not go as planned for Race 1 winner Tengku Djan Ley who overcooked it in the very first lap and brushed the concrete barrier. A damaged right rear wheel forced him to pit but rejoining the race two laps down essentially concluded his challenge.
Sporting Class
Competition in the Sporting class was no less intense with two safety car incidents which eventually decided how the race would end.
Starting at the front of the grid, S&D Tama Motorsports’ Tom Goh led into the first corner ahead of Dream Chaser’s Bradley Benedict Anthony, Crestmax Motorsports’ Adam Khalid, SMS Motorsports’ Haji Sutan Mustaffa Salihin and Panglima City Racing Team’s Kenneth Koh.
The race however, was prematurely stopped in the second lap after a 6-car pile-up. At the restart which was held behind the safety car, 4 of the 16 cars had been eliminated.
Goh continued his dominant drive after the restart and built a gap of more than a two seconds as Haji Sutan and Bradley Benedict was pre-occupied in the battle for second place. Bradley Benedict eventually passed Haji Sutan in the ninth lap and began hunting down Goh.
As the final stages of the race unfolded, Shanmuganathan Arumugam spun his vehicle on the track which brought out the safety car for a second time. This virtually erased whatever gap Goh had worked so hard to establish and with two laps to finish (after the safety car exited the track), Bradley Benedict mounted a last minute challenge which put him into the lead two corners from the chequered flag to claim his first race victory of the season. Goh settled for second with Haji Sutan coming in third.
Promotional Class
In the Promotional class, Shukri Yahaya, Nabil Ahmad and Shawn Lee again made up the top three positions in an equally exciting 20-lap race.
Shukri was the biggest gainer at the start, jumping from fourth position on the grid to second place, passing singers Nabila Razali and Wany Hasrita who were caught off guard. Actress Janna Nick made the most of her pole position to lead the race for two laps before having to yield to Shukri who was clearly setting faster pace.
By lap 4, Nabil too made a move to claim second from Janna who by then had to fend off a further challenge from Lee.
Janna defended well on the track and put up her best driving yet this season but slight contact with Lee four laps from the finish spun her around into oncoming traffic. Actress Diana Danielle and Nabila managed to avoid hitting Janna’s car but actor Syafiq Kyle drove straight into her.
