Round 4 of the 2016 Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo Asia series held in Malaysia’s world famous Sepang International Circuit has been an amazing experience!
The two-race format witnessed competitive action performed by all the teams and drivers, but it was a double-win for the local driver known as Afiq Yazid and his teammate Toshiyuki Ochiai from Japan.
Lamborghini’s Young Talent Program, Yazid has been competing in the series for four years now with a spectacular performance in the past two seasons.
Race 1
Qualifying
1st – Dilantha Malagamuwa (Sri Lanka) and Armaan Ebrahim (India)
2nd – Zen Low (Malaysia) and Max Wiser (Italy)
3rd – Afiq Yazid (Malaysia) and Toshiyuki Ohciai (Japan)
Qualifying – AM Class
1st – Vincent Wong (Hong Kong) and Sanghwi Yoon (Korea)
2nd – Andrew Haryanto (Indonesia) and Keong Wee Lim (Singapore)
3rd – George Chou (Taiwan) and Samson Chan (Hong Kong)
Qualifying – Cup Class
1st – Sam Lok (Hong Kong)
2nd – Supachai Weeraborwornpong
During the race, there were significant changes in driver positions, as Afiq Yazid and Toshiyuki Ochiai slipped through the race leader and snatched pole position from Dilantha Malagamuwa (Sri Lanka) and Armaan Ebrahim (India) wonderfully.
Meanwhile, Yudai Uchida (Japan) and Jono Lester (New Zealand) showed an outstanding performance, starting from tenth place all the way to third position.
In the AM Class, Andrew Haryanto (Indonesia) took the lead from the second position, while George Chou (Taiwan) and Samson Chan (Hong Kong) blazed past Wong and Yoon into second place.
Elsewhere, Supachai Weeraborwornpong went past Sam Lok to take first in the Cup Class!
Race 2
Qualifying
1st – Afiq Yazid (Malaysia) and Toshiyuki Ohciai (Japan)
2nd – Dilantha Malagamuwa (Sri Lanka) and Armaan Ebrahim (India)
3rd – Andrew Haryanto (Indonesia)
4th – Keong Wee Lim (Singapore)
5th – George Chou (Taiwan) and Samson Chan (Hong Kong)
Race 2 saw more wheel-to-wheel moments among the group behind the lead as the race got underway. Yudai Uchida (Japan) and Jono Lester (New Zealand) who started from sixth position on the grid slowly moved their way up the leaderboard, followed closely by Zen Low (Malaysia) and Max Wiser (Italy), who started from seventh position.
Dilantha Malagamuwa (Sri Lanka) and Armaan Ebrahim (India) managed to successfully defend their position for quite a while before they were overtaken by Yudai Uchida (Japan) and Jono Lester (New Zealand), who went into second, knocking them back into third. However, even with Yudai Uchida (Japan) and Jono Lester’s (New Zealand) best efforts and mighty performance, the two men still could not close the gap between them and Afiq Yazid (Malaysia) and Toshiyuki Ohciai (Japan), who amazingly maintained their lead all the way to the chequered flag.
In the meantime, Vincent Wong (Hong Kong) and Sanghwi Yoon (Korea) who had started from eighth place, put a strong pace, overtaking all other drivers in the AM Class, chasing Andrew Haryanto (Indonesia) and eventually taking the victory, finishing in fifth place overall!
Andrew Haryanto (Indonesia) unfortunately did not finish as he suffered from a technical error. Second place was taken by Lim and followed by George Chou (Taiwan) and Samson Chan (Hong Kong) pair in third, ahead of the Hu Nan and He Xiao Le duo.
Sam Lok managed to perform better in Race 2 and he took the victory in the Cup Class, leaving Supachai Weerabornpong in second place.
After the weekend, drivers and teams will now be looking forward to the next round of Blancpain Super Trofeo Asia series. Round 5 will be held at Japan’s Fuji International Speedway on 16-18 September.
The race will mark the fifth and final round in Asia before they compete against other skillful drivers from the other regions at the World Final in Valencia, Spain in December.
(Report by Louis Lau for GTspirit.com)
