Formula V6 Asia Race – Al Fardan dominant in the rain
Sepang, 24 June 2006 – A heavy rain shower 10 minutes before the start set the stage for an action packed and incident filled Formula V6 Asia race at The Sepang International Circuit today.
As the teams came to the grid it was soon apparent that the fifth spot was left empty, with Michael Ho having to start from the pit lane as a result of a gearbox problem prior to the start. “The day started out bad for me, first I had some problems with my gearbox so I had to start from the pit exit. When I went out, my tyres and brakes were still cold and I had a minor spin on my out lap. Luckily I managed to regain control to rejoin the race”.
Pole position man Hamad Al Fardan managed a textbook start. “Luck was on my side. It was a tricky race but I managed to hold on to my position and kept my lead through the first and second turn”.
The top three positions were maintained for the first lap with Al Fardan leading followed closely by Karun Chandhok and Hanss Lin, both of Team E-Rain. Matt Halliday made a brilliant getaway and was in fourth by the time the teams completed the first lap.
Jeffrey Lee, was the first car out of the race, spinning into retirement at the end of the first lap.
On lap 2, Halliday of Team Meritus made an aggressive manoeuver on Lin’s car at turn 3 which resulted in Lin losing momentum allowing both Seth Ingham and Ananda Mikola through to demote Lin to fifth
Positions changed again when second placed Chandhok got severely out of shape on lap 3 allowing Halliday, Ingham, Mikola and Lin to pass. Chandhok regained control of his car and continued the race in sixth, ahead of Denis Lian, Ken Lee and Michael Ho.
As Lin started lap 4 his confidence in the conditions grew and he began to push his car to try to regain his lost position, closing the gap between him and Mikola with each lap.
Towards the end of the seventh lap, Lin was trailing Mikola by half a second and made an ambitious charge on Mikola into the final turn. Lin locked his brakes on the still wet surface and made contact with the rear left side of Mikola’s car, ending both his and Mikola’s race.
With a feigned smile Mikola commented “It was a bad race for me and in the incident, I hurt my wrist while trying to regain control of the car”.
“I had good practice and qualifying sessions but luck was not on my side today. I will definitely be trying to get ahead tomorrow and hope to be on the podium”, said a dejected Lin.
With all the incidents happening at mid-pack, the three front runners had a clear run of the track with Al Fardan continuing to push ahead. Halliday was also seen picking up the pace, lap after lap, and improving on his times with each one.
His charge on Al Fardan came to a tragic end on the ninth lap when he suffered a rear right tyre deflation, immediately ending his race. “The mechanics are checking to see the cause of the problem. Hopefully it will be a dry race tomorrow so I can push early to try and get past as many cars as early on as possible”.
The race ended with an ecstatic Al Fardan taking the chequered flag, followed by Ingham in second, Chandhok in third and Lian, Ho and Lee completing the top six in the points.
“It was a good race for me. I had a good start but made a small mistake at turn 11 but I managed to recover quickly and did not lose any ground” said Al Fardan during the post race interview.
“The track was tricky, towards the end of the race, it was dry in some areas but still wet in others so I had to be careful. I was maintaining my speed when I saw Karun behind me at the last lap, I pushed a little bit and managed to stay ahead” said Ingham.
As for Chandhok, “The race was quite tricky. I started out in front but made some mistakes and thankfully I managed to climb back up to the podium. I tried to make a charge on Seth (Ingham) but I didn’t manage to get ahead in time, maybe if there was one more lap”.
The 20 laps Grand Race will be held on Sunday, 25 June at 1.45pm.
