Asian Festival of Speed 2011 action wrap-up
The annual Asian Festival of Speed 2011 motorsports carnival took place at the Sepang International Circuit last weekend, 28-29 June, with action from three FIA-sanctioned race series: JK Racing Asia Series, GT Asia and the Asian Touring Car Series.
Wet weather threatened to put a damper on proceedings, but the three race series ultimately proceeded without a hitch. Lucas Auer was certainly unaffected as EuroInternational’s Austrian ace dominated proceedings with four wins in Rounds 3 to 6 of the JK Racing Asia Series, holding of the determined challenge of Malaysian Irfan Ilyas of Petronas Mofaz Racing, who finished second behind Auer in all four races.
Speaking after his fourth and final victory of the weekend, Auer said, “I had a good start and I could defend my position. Irfan was close behind but I managed to shake him off in the final few laps.”
Meanwhile, the Asian Touring Car Series saw Look Fong Racing Team’s Eric Kwong score a pole-to-flag win in Round 3 ahead of second-placed Kenneth Lau. Taiwanese driver Chen Jun San was actually first across the line, but a 30-second penalty imposed for being out of the box at the starting grid pushed him down to third. However, Kwong failed to build on his win in Round 4, allowing Hideharu Kuroki of Team IMSP to finish eight seconds clear.
A tactical masterstroke and a tinge of good fortune saw Sri Lankan Dilantha Malagamuwa of Team Dilango Racing pick up the win in the GT Asia Series opening round. Having struggled to get past Tunku Hammam Sulong’s faster Lamborghini LP560 GT3, Dilantha’s team mates at the pits got him in earlier, and with Tunku Hammam’s team botching their pitstop, the Sri Lankan had a comfortable 16 second cushion to relax on after that.
Dilantha went on to comment, saying that he “could not overtake Hammam as he has upgraded his car. We were side by side in the corners but he got away on the straights. I knew the only way to get him was in the pits, so I drove faster in the pit entry to gain one or two seconds there. The next time I drove around I saw my crew dancing and waving so I knew I had overtaken Hammam, then I saw him behind me and that just confirmed it.”
Hammam once again finished behind Dilantha in the second round, as the Sri Lankan crossed the line second behind Frank Yu of Craft Eurasia Racing. Hammam had led the race, but a crash by Samson Chan of the GT4 category brought the Safety Car out for three laps, and disrupted Hammam’s rhythm, who was first overtaken by Yu and then by Dilantha. A furious Hammam has filed a protest claiming that Yu had overtaken him with the yellow flag up.
Team Concorde Absolute Racing dominated proceedings in the GT4 category, with 1-2 finishes in both races. Mark Williamson took the chequered flag in Round 1 ahead of teammate Simon Walters before the duo swapped positions in the following round.
