Multiple race winner Keifli Othman kick-started his 2017 Malaysia Speed Festival (MSF) championship with a double race wins in the season’s opening round at the Sepang International Circuit.
Race Car Open
Competing in the championship’s premier fast pace Race Car Open category, the team Mayhem-Fast Autoworks Maxxoil driver’s pair of victories was expected as during pre-season testing he managed to go even faster than his arch rival who was the initial lap record setter, Faidzil Alang from team Fast Lap Autoworks. Another close rival Mark Darwin from team SITTY-DNT also displayed quick times during the test with the trio posting a record mid to low 2:20 minutes lap times, battering last season’s best time of 2:24s but with Keifli slightly edging the duo.
The trio’s pre-testing pace was a sign of things to come as in the race they completed a podium lockout during the weekend’s opening bout, with Keifli leading Faidzil and Mark Darwin home. Right from the start Keifli led the trio of the chasing pack in the form of Faidzil, Shazull Hisham and Mark in the opening laps. Initially team Evotech Racing’s Shazull was holding back Mark with both of them trying to keep up with Faidzil who was trying to keep Keifli in-tow. After being held up for about a lap and half Mark made his move on Shazull which unleashed him to close the gap to Faidzil who by now has a gap with Keifli.
Throughout the remaining laps, Faidzil, Mark and Shazull’s pace were scintillating with all of them doing mid 2:22 minute lap times, but Keifli who was constantly being inform of the progress behind him responded by doing a 2:21 minute which was enough for him to bring his car home in first place at the flag comfortably.
“This is a fantastic result for the team and a redemption of my failed attempt last season,” said Keifli. “Although I won the race but the gap was still not safe for me to be complacent as the guys behind me are some of the quickest drivers here. It’s still early days in the championship and I don’t expect my rivals to be pleased with their results today, and we expect them to improve in the coming races, which means that we just got to work much harder to keep this momentum and hopefully reward us with the title that we missed out last season,” added Kefli.
The stage is now set as these four drivers are in contention for the championship title. If it’s any indication and based on last season’s experience, consistency is key to victory to which incredibly all of them suffered setbacks later in that season which ended their championship title hunt. For sure these teams would be looking at their car’s reliability and at some point, strategies would be enforced by them to stay in contention.
Race Car 1800
JDM Racing’s Winston Tan hit the top with a double win in the 1800 category with his Honda EG6. After playing a bridesmaid role last season, Winston seems determined to score right from the beginning especially with the absent of last season’s champ Azlan Malik, and is now at the championship standings summit.
In the race Winston made strong getaway in both heats and was able to resist the attentions from team MPC Garage’s Mohd Firdaus Madah and MaxxOil Racing Team driver partnership of CY Khoo-Harve Singh. In both races Winston seems to always have the edge over his rivals and would gradually stretch his lead to win both the opening rounds of the MSF.
Race Car 1600
Team Dream Chaser ignited their championship charge with their first victory of the season in the main race. The team which features CY Ong and Geraldine Read were becoming the team to watch as last season they came very close to taking the category’s overall title despite missing several rounds of the MSF.
In the first race Ahmad Faizry from team Loco Racing brought his car home in first place and added his name to an ever-growing list of race-winning drivers in the MSF championship. Coming in second is the very much improved Geraldine Read who displayed a fighting spirit starting from the mid-pack and than nipping pass Mirza Syahmi from team Mayhem CRP for that vital second position.
That second position was important for team Dream Chaser as this gave CY Ong a good based to begin the second race. As the lights went green CY Ong blasted off the line, went past pole-sitter Ahmad Faizry, and the experienced racer never looked back. Ahmad Faizry finished second and was followed by the hard charging F-Tuned Racing Team’s Soffiz Hardy-Wan Ahmad Farouk.
Saga Cup & Super 1500 NA
With the absent of Tengku Djan and Farique Hairuman this season to keep him in check, Boy Wong won both races unfettled in the Saga Cup (expert). The ST Wangan’s driver lead commandingly off the line and away from any ensuing drama in the pack behind. Once the race went green he got the jump on JNA Racing Team’s Alif Hamdan off the line, and Jay Choong of team SMRT in the first race. His start was so brilliant that for the first 3 laps he was actually dicing with some of the more powerful lead cars in the Super 1500 NA category which ran in tandem with the Saga Cup. He kept his pace and lead position in his category right to the chequered flag.
Behind him Alif Hamdan and Jay Choong were trading second and third places in the race with the latter claiming second position at the chequered flag. Interestingly the pair were mixing it with Mohamad Shahril/Shamir Aizan, driving the quick Daihatsu Mira Gino from Team RAB Prodrag who’s actually competing in the Super 1500 NA category!
While this mix-duel was happening it allowed team MOMENTOM RACING’s Keu Sian Shi in the Proton Satria to have a comfortable gap and went on to win the first race for the Super 1500 NA category. Mohamad Shahril/Shamir Aizan secured second position followed by team SpeedJump Racing driver combo of Hendra Eryawan and Mohd Noorhafizi.
As for race two in the Saga Cup, Boy Wong encoured his first race victory and this time was followed by Alif Hamdan and Millennium Motorsports Asia driver Adian Yein across the finishing line.
“I made a good start and it certainly paid off as I knew that things were going to be chaotic at turn 1 especially with a large grid. Staying out of trouble was key and I had a feeling that the guys behind me had some issues which made the job easier for me. As for the next race, I expect my rivals to come back stronger but I´m prepared for it and looking forward to a tightly-contested battle,” said Boy Wong.
After getting delayed by being involved with the Saga Cup drivers in the first race Mohamad Shahril/Shamir Aizan had probably learnt their lesson and in the second race made a remarkable start which kept him extremely close to his main rival and race one victor Keu Sian Shi. It didn’t take long before Shahril/Shamir made his move on Keu Sian Shi to lead the race. Although the Daihatsu Mira Gino looked like it has a slight edge over Keu Sian Shi’s Proton Satria, there was really nothing in-between the pair and they were very close to one another throughout the race. At one point Shahril/Shamir had to upped his pace by doing a fastest lap of 2:47.829 trying to inch away from Keu Sian Shi but the latter was still within striking distance. The gap between them was so close that by the time they crossed the finish line they only had 0.272 seconds gap between them. Once again team SpeedJump Racing’s Hendra Eryawan and Mohd Noorhafizi took third place in the category.
Running together in this group is the Saga Cup for novice. A popular class for newcomers it made up the largest number on the grid in the group and amazingly provide some spectacular race actions.
The first race was won by Top Performance driver Vikram followed by the driver duo of Foo YC and KJ Jun in second and Loco Racing’s Ahmad Faizry in third. One of the highlights in the novice category must surely be the female racer Boey Chai Pao Weei. Driving for team Ngah Motorsports, the Johor lass displayed some amazing skills plus bravery and was unruffled when embroiled in door-to-door battle.
In the second race and with a determined drive Boey took her first win in the series and many predict that we’ll be seeing her more on the podium in the coming races. F-Tuned Racing Team’s Rifkee Abu Bakar and team SMRT’s Syed Rizal finished second and third respectively.
This category also welcomed 15-year old Afiq Haikal, the youngest entry in the MSF Championship. Driving for team SMS-LMC Racing, competing in the series is all about gaining knowledge in saloon car racing after his past accomplishments in go-kart racing. The Saga Cup is a tough category and Afiq Haikal got his first dose of on-track altercation when he was punted off the track thus ending his race. Aside from a bent car, fortunately Afiq Haikal was unscathed and it would be great to see the progress of this youngster in the coming races.
This season’s MSF features 6 rounds with the next round scheduled on 16th April.