The third race meeting of the 2017 Malaysia Speed Festival (MSF) takes place next weekend at Sepang International Circuit. After two rounds of the MSF, the series has provided two very lively races and the coming round would not differ as competitors try to maintain their championship standings.
The MSF weekend for round 3 would be a full 2-day event with Saturday featuring the MegaLAP time-attack competition while on Sunday, Round 3 of the MSF. The weekend will combine the best of motorsports and a gathering (Saturday) organised by renowned Retro Havoc X who would prepare the MSF BBQ.
The Magnificent Seven
Race Car Open
After being denied to start Race 1, Team Mayhem-Fast Autoworks Maxxoil driver Keifli Othman was a man on a mission when he blitz his way from last on the grid to win Race 2 in the previous round. Although he lost some championship points, his scintillating drive in Race 2 kept his lead in the championship standings still intact.
Shazull Hisham from team Evotech who won Race 1 had shown good speed with his new car and will definitely have new updates for his car to close the gap to Keifli. Last season Shazull showed consistency and was leading the championship until the penultimate round when things went sideways which affected his title ambition. If he can keep his car on track for the remaining rounds and hoping that his rivals don’t score points, perhaps this could be Shazull’s year.
Team SITTY-DNT drivers Mark Darwin and Ahmad Akid are strong forces who could play some roles to affect the position of the two leading contenders. Both these drivers are quick but they seemed to lose pace over a race distance making them lose positions, but we’re certain they’ll rectify this in the coming round.
Shamir Aizan Hanafiah from Evotec Prodrag made an impact when he joined the Race Car Open category by being in the thick of the action with the big boys. He even made a strong impression when he made the podium by finishing third in Race 2! Shamir would be the one to watch if his team can give him the car to deliver strong results throughout the remaining races.
Faidzil Alang of Fast Lap Autoworks missed out in Round 2 with car issue and has indicated that he’ll be back next weekend and is looking forward to resume his fight with Keifli. It’s a tall order for him should Keifli finishes in every round and he also has the rejuvenated Shazull to overcome. But with Faidzil it’s never really over till the flag comes down.
Missing the opening round, Syahrizal Jamaludin began in earnest with F Tuned Racing Team’s Honda Integra DC2 in round 2. Without much testing the car was clearly off-pace and was unable to mix with the top runners. The ex-works touring car driver who was so close to securing the category’s championship title last season has indicated that things will change in the coming round and has promised that he will be in the leading group come race day.
The Race Car Open is building up to be one big battle between some of the fastest race car drivers in Malaysia. Should all seven of them be able to keep their cars on track throughout the duration of the race, this should keep the fans off their seat!
Saga Cup Rocco Runners Closing In
Saga Cup Rocco
Introduced in 2016 season the Saga Cup has 2 categories, Expert (Ron Jeremy) and Novice (Rocco), with the latter having one of the biggest starting grid during the inaugural MSF. With different winners almost every round and with on-track battles continuing right to the chequered flag, some of the Rocco competitors were even battling it out with the bigger league guys in the expert class. Most of the Rocco competitors are highly motivated and has definitely learnt a lot from the short end-of-the-year break to improve their driving and adjusting their cars with proper set-up.
In Round 2 Seng Motorsport’s Tan Chaw Wei took the chequered flag in race 1 after some tough battle with Loco Racing’s Ahmad Faizry. Incredibly the pair finished the race ahead of some of the expert guys in the Saga Cup. Coming home third was team LOCM driver Syed Rizal. In race 2 Ahmad Faizry was declared the winner followed by Mohamad Aliff/Muhamad Shahril and the drivers pairing of Foo YC/Ken Yap.
The Rocco Cup is getting popular and shaping up to be one fierce championship in the MSF, and revealing future stars.
Domination of the Toyota Squad
Street Tune 1600
The Street Tune category once again sees the domination of the Toyota cars, and it’s not just the normal Toyota cars but rare versions like the Levin AE111 running in racing trims. The category has attracted some established names like Kenny Lee from Kegani Racing and Sutan Mustafa Salihin to take the fight against home grown teams and tuners. Although Kenny Lee and Sutan are strong contenders, they were upstaged by their rivals and found that racing here is pretty hard.
UITM Racing JMS Tuner’s drivers pair Hazrin Mad Kaidi/Khairul Amri claimed two victories in the Street Tune 1600 category after fending off attacks from WAKOS GARAGE R.N.R Autosport’s Muhd Hazlami Hazim/Muslim Mustafa. While in the second race which was more intense Hazrin Mad Kaidi/Khairul Amri managed to distanced themselves from the drama behind to finished ahead of Kenny Lee and Mohd Azri Mohamad/Sutan Mustaffa Salihin.
The UITM Racing JMS Tuner drivers are in control at the moment but with the experienced Kenny Lee and Sutan having their off-day in Round 2 things might be different in the coming races.
Round 3 of the 2017 Malaysia Speed Festival will take place at the Sepang International Circuit on 20 and 21 May and will include MegaLap event, and Retro Havoc X MSF BBQ. To keep in touch with all the latest news and updates, follow MSF’s social media channels by clicking on the link https://www.facebook.com/msfracingseries/