Hayden Haikal Scores Podium Finishes In Thailand Super Series Super Eco Championship

New to the Thailand Super Series Super Eco Championship, the Pipekids Racing Team celebrated amazing results at the final 2 races at the Chang International Circuit. Malaysian racer, Hayden Haikal, was instrumental to the team’s success as he helped propel the team to its best ever result by scoring 2 podium finishes i.e. a race win and a 3rd place.

In both 12-lap races of the championship, the fight for position went right up to the chequered flag, with the 19-year-old Malaysian claiming Saturday’s race win. And despite being in contention to make it a double victory in Sunday’s race, Hayden found himself boxed in going into the final lap and had to fight hard just to finish in 3rd spot.

Hayden had started his race weekend promisingly by posting the fastest time in official practice before eventually settling for third quickest in qualifying.

In Saturday’s Race 1, the situation was door-to-door from start to finish with Hayden in the #24 Honda Brio Amaze leading for most of the 12-lap race. This culminated to a 3-way battle for the top podium spot in the final lap of the race which involved V-Are Pro Garage Racing Team’s Athipong Khumtong in the Suzuki Swift and the Honda Brio of Insane Motorsport’s Danuwat Worakitichai. Athipong had surged ahead of the pack at the start of the final lap but Hayden managed to regain the lead several corners to the finish line to win by a car’s length or 0.6 seconds.

“It was an incredibly tough but exciting race with the top contenders all in for the win. At one point of the race we had as many as 3 to 4 cars abreast fighting into the corners. The team had a strong car coming into the final racing weekend and I just focused on keeping it clean on the track, avoiding any unnecessary contact and focus on my driving,” said Hayden who was the only Malaysian competing in the class from a field dominated by 17 other Thai drivers.

Race 2 was a reverse grid order for the top 5 finishers in Race 1 and meant that Hayden had plenty to do from starting 5th on the grid and also running heavier, carrying a 25 kg winner’s ballast. That however, did not seem to hamper Hayden who propelled into 3rd place at the first corner and moved up to 2nd by the final corner of Lap 1. He eventually took the lead after 3 laps.

The race for the win however, quickly became a 4-way battle involving Hayden, S. Thanapattra, N. Chanoknun and Athipong. With only 4 laps to go, the Malaysian racer lost the lead to Chanoknun and was later boxed in. The final lap of the race was the most intense and in a matter of just a few corners, Hayden had to fight hard to finish 3rd. 

“The results of the previous 6 races earlier in the year realistically did not place us in contention to fight for the overall championship but nevertheless, the team’s objective was to come away with as many points as we can considering it is PipeKids Racing’ first year competing. For me personally, coming to Thailand is not only to fulfill an ambition to move up the racing classes but also to prove to myself that I can become a valuable asset as a development driver. It’s been a fantastic season and I am extremely thankful that I have been able to help elevate Pipekids Racing to the front of the field in its first year,” commented Hayden.

The win in Race 1 and 3rd place in Race 2 marks Pipekids Racing’s best ever result for 2023 having finished 2nd and 4th in Round 2 of the championship.

“We have learnt a lot as a team and hopefully this year’s experience will place Pipekids Racing in a stronger position to fight for the championship in 2024,” he shared.

On a separate note, as the only Malaysian driver to compete in 2 full seasons of racing in Thailand, Hayden also celebrates his 2023 season with winning this year’s Idemitsu Super Turbo Championship. “Overall, 2023 has been fantastic. The focus now will be to explore opportunities to move up to the higher classes of racing, namely GT car racing.”