Ferrari Challenge Asia Pacific Round 4 Race-1 at Sepang International Circuit turned out to be full of thrills and drama. With 31 drivers from 13 countries participating in the race, the 5.543 km circuit was an adrenaline-filled affair for the spectators, with the hot and humid weather contributing to the fierce battle on the first day.
Trofeo Pirelli. The first race of the weekend was very much a matter of deja-vu for Steve Wyatt from Australia, who claimed the same win one year ago during Race-1 at Sepang. As the lights turned green, pole-sitter Wyatt got off to a brilliant start to lead the field, while Alexander West from Sweden challenged hard throughout the entire race but just couldn’t rein in Wyatt. West was in constant attacking mode at turn 9 and tried a few thrilling overtaking manoeuvres but Wyatt managed to fend off West with equally superb counter-moves. In third place was Florian Merckx from Belgium. Sepang International Circuit is Steve Wyatt’s favourite track and he commented during the press conference that he really enjoyed the resurfaced track. He felt that the technical track flows well and didn’t have to brake as hard because one corner flows on to the next. He had a very good race.
Pirelli Am. In the battle for Pirelli Am class honours, the win went to table leader Xin Jin from China after a dramatic close race with fellow compatriot Huilin Han. Jin put in some solid laps to hold the category lead. A respectable third place went to Greg Teo from Singapore.
Coppa Shell. In the Coppa Shell classification, Liang Wang from China maintained his lead throughout the first race of the weekend. He was followed closely by Makoto Fujiwara from Japan, who finished in second place. And in third place was Yuan Yang from China. Interestingly, all 3 Coppa Shell podium winners finished within one second of each other. The winner of the Gentlemen Cup, Tamotsu Kondo from Japan, put in a good effort to finish mid-field overall. Race-2 will start again tomorrow at 1.25PM local time.
