Fairuz celebrates Raya with two podiums
Word has it that he’s set to be the man to lead the charge of the 1Malaysia F1 team. If he is, then Fairuz Fauzy certainly did his reputation no harm with two podium finishes in Round 8 of the Formula Renault 3.5 World Series held at the Nurburgring over the weekend.
Fairuz, racing for team MOFAZFortec Motorsport with Sten Pentus, took pole position during the qualifying sessions, beating championship leader Bertrand Baguette of International Draco Racing and Jon Lancaster of Comtec Racing to become the fastest driver in qualifying.
However, that was not sufficient for a pole position start, as Fairuz and Pentus, merely qualified for the SuperPole lineup, from which they had to compete with the likes of Charles Pic, Brendon Hartley and Oliver Turvey for the first position on the grid. Hartley triumphed in this battle, with Fairuz having to start Race 1 from 5th placing.
Fairuz in action.
After a cautious start, which saw him drop to as low as ninth place Fairuz ramped it up in the latter stages of the race, advancing past Jaime (no, not our Jaime) Alguersuari, Daniil Move, and Jon Lancaster to secure a second-placed finish for the day.
The Jalur Gemilang flies in the Nurburgring
For Race 2, MOFAZ played a more defensive strategy, as Fairuz secured third position early, and held on to it with dear life. At the end, third was where Fairuz finished, as the Malaysian celebrated Hari Raya with a double podium finish.
Fairuz (right) on the podium a second time.
When interviewed, Fairuz was quoted as saying,”Alhamdulillah, I am thankful for the blessings that the team and I have received on this glorious day of Aidilfitri. I must say that having such a strong support network, especially with AirAsia coming on board as our official airline, has helped boost the overall confidence and motivation for every member of the team.”
With rumour mill working over time on him being set to helm the 1Malaysia F1 Team‘s challenge in the next Formula 1 season, it would be interesting to see how Fairuz and his team MOFAZFortec Motorsport handle all the associated pressure and media speculation in the coming months.
Formula 1 beckons?
Team MOFAZFortec Motorsport will be back in action on the 23rd – 25th of October 2009, when they battle it out to secure the top 3 positions within the World Series by Renault 2009 Finals at Motorland Aragon, Spain.
