2017 TCR Asia Series winners Liqui Moly Team Engstler may have started the new season utilizing two rookie recruits, but by the close up of the opening situation of the year, they checked very much the well-oiled machine that dominated another season of the common regional championship.
From pre-season tests through to official practice and then qualifying, it had become clear that Thailand’s Kantadhee Kusiri – who actually had taken the reigns of outgoing champ Andy Yan’s Volkswagen The game of golf GTi TCR – would be the pace-setter at Sepang. He been on top of the timesheets for four days, and began race one with pole position.
Despite the development of an early Safety Motor vehicle, Kusiri was untroubled, setting the quickest lap of the contest on his solution to a comfortable victory about new team-mate Diego Moran, by using Moran coming under boosting pressure from Andy Yan’s 2017 nemesis Tin Sritrai, any Ecuadorian though holding radio station to the flag.
In rush two the same 3 were quickly with the field off the invert grid start, however , contact between Sritrai and Kusiri which ultimately came across the latter lose a couple laps in the sets afterwards, allowed Moran to eliminate the feuding Thai’s to collect an additional win for the crew, and the championship elements lead.
Sritrai was initially attributed with second, well before a 30-second post-race penalty fell the Team Thailand driver to fifth, elevating completely new TCR Asia team R Engineering to following and third over the podium for WS Lai in addition to Abdul Kaathir, an outstanding recovery for your Malaysia Honda operation who had been forced to start equally races from the backside of the field after the post-qualifying infringement.
Round#1 (11-laps)
The action begun almost immediately, with new Elegant Sports Squad Seat driver Eric Nited kingdom. in the inside wall membrane on the run across the brand after the faintest involving touches from Phoenix arizona Racing Asia’s SK Tong in the jostle designed for position.
That brought the sphere under the control of the Safety Car, with pole-sitter Kusiri major team-mate Diego Moran and WS Lai which had made a blisters start from the last line of the grid to be third into move one as the green flags came into play. Container Sritrai was fourth, before SK Tong and his Audi team-mate Jasper Thong.
On the restart Moran managed to adhere to Kusiri early, before the Thai driver put together a string of low Two:17 laps to interrupt away to a contribute that he ultimately lengthened to 10 seconds ahead of the flag.
Behind the leading Volkswagens the most important battle was being fought between Sritrai and R Engineering’s WS Lai, the local driver keeping third and underneath increasing pressure from the Thai driver throughout the early laps. In the long run it took Sritrai right until lap nine to help make his way past any #39 Honda Civic using a late braking within move at turn nine, but by then Kusiri was gone, Sritrai closing over the gap to Moran on the final laps, yet not enough to get within striking distance involving second.
Lai crossed the fishing line fourth, with Mercedes Hong Kong’s Jasper Thong in position five before charging Kaathir, the pair classified first and second in the fresh TCR Asia Cup class.
Alex Liu made up for the disappointment of team-mate Eric K’s early ruin with seventh because the top finishing Seating, ahead of SK Tong in the 2nd Audi and Viper Niza Racing’s Douglas Khoo exactly who suffered a mid ethnic background spin, dropping a Seat driver returning to ninth at the set.
For Kusiri, his first ever victory in TCR Asia prolonged his winning skills in TCR in Asiatische events as an Asiatische driver, to more effective wins from seven starts, a record which will included two global Series events during Thailand, and four races during the TCR Thailand Series.
Round#2 (11-laps)
With the top rated six qualifiers inverted for the start of the second battle (the two R Industrial Honda Civics forced to start out at the rear of the ugly grid as a result of his or her post-qualifying exclusion) the two magnificent new Audis would begin at the front of the power company, ahead of Tin Sritrai together with Diego Moran, with Kantadhee Kusiri out position number five.
With its relative lack of TCR experience, the two Audi car owners were swamped off of the start, Jasper Thong off P2 delay the #5 RS3 LMS on the line sacrificing to rear-of-field by change one, whilst his particular pole-sitting team-mate bogged down allowing Senke Moran to fire off the secondly row and in to the race lead.
Sritrai had been able pull up the inside of Tong on the move to turn one, the 2 main drivers banging doorways to try and establish more than enough room to make the ideally suited apex, whilst behind them Kusiri moved into final. That soon turned second after the cross-over directly into turn two fell Tong back to fourth, the particular Audi soon finally after a big proceed by the experienced Lai thru turn six.
It seemed to be getting hectic further more back in the pack, with Alex Liu, Kaathir, Jasper Thong and his Audi team-mate struggling for position, Kaathir the large mover up to 6th by the close of the lap.
By lap 2 it was clear that Sritrai was still struggling with the gearbox downchange issue through the mid-sectors of the lap, permitting Kusiri to lock in upon his rival’s tail, the 2 Thai drivers separated by mere inches. Turn 14 searched to be Kusiri’s best option, but Sritrai was able to go over on lap not one but two as the pair finished in a little on Moran’s lead.
By turn being unfaithful the following lap Sritrai received closed to within the car length of the head, but Kusiri continued to just make him onto a protective line, the 2 main making contact in the high speed right-hander at turn 15, slowing the develop of both, providing Moran to gain some respiratory space as the only two Thai drivers located in line-astern once more.
The following panel the two rivals have been at it again, Kusiri setting up a late inside rush into turn 17, Sritrai moving across the resist, the two Volkswagens making weighty contact which truly threw the #2 The sport of golf of Kusiri into the surroundings and off the circuit into the gravel lure on the outside of the final area. He kept the energy on and went down pit side of the road to have the Liqui Moly team Engstler operation look at the car, the seasoned touring car team sending him available two laps later to complete the contest, but by then his perfect run regarding TCR victories was in excess of.
Whilst disappointment for Kusiri, for Moran the incident helped him an opportunity to extend his lead about Sritrai, the Thai car owner closing him recorded on the final lap, however, not enough to allow him or her to make a move, this TCR rookie crossing the line mere tenths clear of Sritrai, with WS Lai third.
Ultimately though the stewards evaluated that contact somewhere between Sritrai and Kusiri at move 14 was unnecessary, handing the Team Thailand new driver a 30-second post competition penalty, elevating Kaathir during the second R Engineering Honda to third plus victory in the TCR Pot, with Japser Thong fourth [and next in the Cup]. Sritrai retained 6th place and 4 . overall in world-class points, with SK Tong six.
Alex Liu claimed top honours once again for Hold, with Douglas Khoo leading residence Kusiri who set the quickest lap of the battle in his charge throughout the closing laps.
For the actual TCR Asia Series competition there is now a half dozen week break for the second round of year at Zhuhai in Tiongkok, the very first time the popular state touring car title will have competed during China’s first ever international signal.
