SHAH ALAM, 3 JANUARY 2025 – As a series that prides
itself in level playing field competition, the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Vios
Challenge one-make series reaffirms its long-standing tradition of keeping race
fans at the edge of their seats with no clear favourites as Season 7 comes to
an end this weekend.
Two, or possibly even three new overall champions,
will be crowned this weekend with no less than three contenders in the running
in each of the three respective categories: Super Sporting Class for elite drivers;
Sporting Class for amateurs; and Rookie Class for young drivers.
Season 7 has been made even more challenging and
unpredictable with the introduction of the new fourth generation Vios that
essentially had the grid of 34 drivers acquainting themselves to the new
characteristics of the vehicle. Season 7’s competitors included drivers from
Thailand, Singapore and India for the very first time.
The finale held at the 5.543km Petronas Sepang
International Circuit will be a closed event but broadcast live on all of UMW
Toyota Motor’s social media platforms.
Season 7
which began in August last year, consists of three rounds and six individual
races offering a combined RM630,000 in prize monies which includes RM330,000
paid out to race winners in the three individual rounds.
In the
closely-contested premier Super Sporting
Class, the overall championship is still anyone’s race with five drivers
having a mathematical chance of being crowned champion.
The three
with the best hope are Axle Sport’s Naquib Azlan, defending champion Mitchell
Cheah of Prima Pearl TD Racing and Telagamas Toyota’s Freddie Ang. Another two
drivers – Laser Motor Racing’s Amer Harris and TD Racing’s Hayden Haikal who is
also a former champion, too have a shot – albeit slim – of emerging champion
although they will require both race wins this weekend to bolster their
chances.
At stake
will be RM80,000 in prize monies for the overall champion, RM60,000 for the
runner-up and RM40,000 for the third place winner.
“I
believe the team and I are capable of bringing this championship win home.
Mitchell is a strong competitor and it definitely will not be a walk in the
park but yes, I am confident that we can do it,” said Super Sporting
championship prospect Naquib. Super Sporting is the only title that eludes him
having worked his way up into the elite class after winning the Rookie Class
2021 and Sporting Class in 2022.
“Regarding
preparation, I would love to be behind the wheel of my car to prepare but with
that not being possible I just keep myself fresh by being on the simulator and
turn to a lot of self reflection to see where I can improve heading into this
final round.”
The Sporting Class, as it has always been
for the past 7 seasons meanwhile, continue to be extremely too close to call
with numerous drivers having their fair share of podium limelight. Like the
Super Sporting Class, the championship is pretty much undecided but three
candidates emerge as clear favourites. They are BAE Racing by ES Young’s Elson
Lew who won the last two races; Kenneth Koh of PCM Group Racing Team who has
been consistently on the podium over the last four races with one win, one second
place and two third place wins; and Race Rally KL’s
Shafiq Samsudin with one race win and one third place to his credit. Again,
nothing less than two race wins will consolidate the best man’s chances of
becoming the 2024 champion.
For Koh, Season 7 is shaping up as his best shot at
the overall title so far since joining the series in 2017 but Lew’s back to
back victory in Round 2 also sees the former Rookie Class driver hungry to win
and move up into the premier class for a chance of racing alongside his father
– veteran racer Eddie Lew.
They will be fighting for prize monies amounting to
RM60,000, RM40,000 and RM20,000 for the winner, runner-up and third place
overall finishes.
In the Rookie Class for young drivers under
the GAZOO Racing Young Talent Development Program, 18-year-old pro karter Adam
Mikail emerges as the clear front runner with three race wins in four races but
it is 22-year-old recreational karter Brandon Ho who has been the most
consistent with four podium finishes – one race win, two second places and one
third place finish. A third contender is 21-year-old simulator racer Raja
Amirul Syauqat who began the season conservatively with a fourth and fifth
place finish before scoring a second and third place finish in the last two
races.
“Coming
into the final round I feel quite confident as I clearly see the chance for me
to win the overall rookie title. I see the other competitors continuously
improving and so that pushes me to keep training,” said Adam.
“I
continue to work on my stamina and overall fitness to prepare for this upcoming
race as I believe that fitness is the key to consistency, and consistency is
what I am aiming for.”
For
fellow rookie Ho, his recent stint competing in the Sepang 1000KM Endurance
Race has been strong enough motivation to do well this weekend.
“To win
the overall title will be challenging but I’ll do my best and push for the
title. Preparation for the final round is doing great. A podium finish in S1K
definitely helped me prepare for this final round especially in terms of
stamina because I successfully completed a 5-hour stint in S1K. I am ensuring
that I maintain my fitness level by frequently working out.
“Going
into the final round of the season as a rookie, my goal is definitely to
extract as much points as I can from both remaining races as the gap in points
to the championship leader is only 14 points.”
The race
weekend will also set the stage for the launch of the face lifted GR Corolla
and Corolla GR Sport, and reintroduction of the GR Yaris.
For more information, log on to log on to www.toyota.com.my/en/tgrmalaysia, youtube.com/tgrmalaysia,
and instagram.com/tgrmalaysia.
