2009 SEPANG DRAG BATTLE – PREVIEW ROUND FIVE

The 2009 Sepang Drag Battle enters its final round this Saturday (November 15) at Sepang Circuit with the battle for the premier class crown still open but heavily stacked against two-time champion Lai Wee Sing of R-Engineering.

Four of the eight classes, however, have already installed their 2009 champions even before the concluding Round 5 including for Class B for the two-wheel drive forced induction machines where Wee Sing’s team-mate, Mohd Zamri Baba had been the overwhelming champion.

Three others that had joined Zamri as Sepang Drag Kings for the year are Mohd Maziz Abdullah for Class C for two-wheel drive normally aspirated cars; Suhaimi Hamid for the V-Tech Engines and Ahmad Nizam Ibrahim for the non V-Tech engines from Class F for on-the-road cars.

“Whether the championships have been decided or not; fans can expect an all out performance in all the classes from all the drivers. They will push the cars to the limit for the win. Ah Lai (Wee Sing), for one, will definitely go all out … all drag racing fans know this,” said Erza Anaz, who is Sepang Drag Battle event coordinator.

After a frustrating first three rounds, Wee Sing finally defeated chief rival Dixon Chen at Round 4 in a thrilling and historical October 25 at the circuit as Team R-Engineering displayed superb form to dominate proceedings.

On the night when team-mate, Mohd Zamri Ahmad officially secured the 2008 title for Class B, Wee Sing lives to fight on to keep his title dreams alive although it actually had nothing to do with his sensational victory for Round 4.

Lai’s maiden win for 2008 failed to provide any impact on his position in the championship standings as the organizers – Sepang International Circuit (SIC) - ruled that no championship points were awarded for the round for the class – similar to what was decided for Round 2 and Round 4.

The organizers ruled that no championship points would be given when there were less than 10 competitors for that respective category. Round 2 and Round 4 had only nine competitors for each of the round; effectively making only the opening round and Round 3 as provider of the championship points for 2009.

After four rounds, Dixon, who raced a Mitsubisihi Evo III machine, leads the standings with eight points with Wee Sing in third place and four points behind with Dixon. Driving an awesome Nissan Skyline, Round 3 winner Farriz Fauzy is second with five points and a real challenger to Dixon’s title hopes – comes the final round on November 15.

“So, the fight for the premier class crown remains open between Dixon, Farriz and Ah Lai. All three are great drag racers and fans can expect another thrilling battle between the three drivers in their bid to become the 2009 champion,” Erza added.

Regardless of the non-championship status, Wee Sing said he was happy with his achievement in Round 4; saying that it gave him and the team ‘personal satisfaction’ especially to finally score a win in what he described as a very challenging season.

“It has been a very tough season this year and I am happy to win this round. The fight for the overall title is still opened in Round 5. But, I would not think too much on that. We just need to wait and see. Whatever happens, we are already assured of an overall title this year through Zamri and I am very happy,” said Wee Sing.

Driving a Proton Satria, Zamri scored his third successive of the season after beating Mohd Ikhwan Padah Nordin in the final run to win Round 4 to take his total haul to an unassailable lead of 15 points.

Three drivers – Mohd Syukri Mohd Nor, Khairul Anuar Puteh Abdullah and Jamsari Jahya – are tied in second place with five points; making Round 5 on November 15 a vital round in deciding the other top places.

Like Class B, Maziz is the undisputed champion of Class C for two-wheel drive normally aspirated cars as his win in Round 4 took his total tally to a massive 18 points; with his closest challengers Iqbal Ismail and Firdaus Azman trailing on five points each.

In the two categories for Class F for cars eligible for on-the-road use, Suhaimi Hamid is the 2009 champion for the V-Tech Category; securing the overall title in grand style with a round to spare after winning the recent fourth round.

Charting his third win of the season, Suhaimi of Avantech Motorsport, took his overall total to a massive 18 points, which is just two short of the perfect 20. He lost the two points was defeated in the final run of Round 2; losing to Baharul Aslan Abu Bakar.

Currently with 10 points, Baharul has a four-point advantage over third-placed Mohd Zain Ahmad and should be the firm favourite to finish second behind Suhaimi in the battle of the V-Tech-engine cars for Class F.

In the Non V-Tech category, Ahmad Nizam Ibrahim has also been installed as the overall champion by opening an unassailable lead in the point standings. Second at the penultimate Round 4, Ahmad Nizam of AN Garage took his total haul to 15 points; opening an eight-point advantage over second placed Mezam Akram.

Clearly the most consistent in a field of over 20 cars over the four rounds, Ahmad Nizam had scored two wins and a third-place in Round 2 on top of the second place that he secured in the previous Round 4.

The battle for Round 5 this Saturday, which starts at 5pm, should see a close battle between Mezam and third-placed Mohd Johan Khairuddin for the runner-up spot.

POINT STANDINGS AFTER FOUR ROUNDS

Pos.	Driver	Ponts
Class A – Open
1	Dixon Chen	8
2	Farriz Fauzy	5
3	Lai Wee Sing	3
4	Alex See	2
5	Azlan Malik	2
Class B – 2WD Forced Induction
1	Zamri Ahmad	15
2	Syukri Mohd Nor	5
3	Khairul Anuar	5
4	Jamsari Jahya	5
5	Ikhwan Nordin	3
Class C – 2WD Normally Aspirated
1	Maziz Abdullah	18
2	Iqbal Ismail	5
3	Firdaus Azman	5
4	Nizam Ahmad	3
5	Tay Lim Han	3
Class D – 2WD Limited
1	Ismail Mutalib	8
2	Riduwan Osman	5
3	Yusof Zakaria	5
4	Fuad Ismail	2
5	Syairul Sukiman	1
Class E – K-Car
1	Azery Norazali	12
2	Amri Na’aem	7
3	Azlee Awang	5
4	Mohd Noor Rahman	5
5	Fariz Nordin	4
Class F: Avantech On The Road Class
V-Tec Category
1	Suhaimi Hamid	18
2	Baharul Aslan Abu Bakar	10
3	Mohd Zain Ahmad	6
Non V-Tec Category
1	Ahmad Nizam Ibrahim	15
2	Mezam Akram	8
3	Mohd Johan Khairuddin	4

 

2008 SEPANG DRAG BATTLE – RESULTS ROUND 4

Pos.	Driver
Class A – Open (Turbocharged and supercharged allowed; Nitrous Oxide system allowed)
First	Lai Wee Sing
Second	Dixon Chen Teck Sun
Third	Muhd Azlan
Fourth	Mohd Shahril Mohd Dhari
Class B – 2WD Forced Induction (Only one power adder allowed; 2WD vehicles only)
First	Mohd Zamri Ahmad
Second	Mohd Ikhwan Padah Nordin
Third	Mohd Sahipol Bahari
Fourth	Tan We Kong
Class C – 2WD Normally Aspirated (only naturally aspirated engines allowed; NOS system prohibited)
First	Mohd Maziz Abdullah
Second	Nizam Ahmad
Third	Tay Lim Han
Fourth	Khairul Anwar Ahmad
Class D – 2WD Limited (engines 1600cc and below; only naturally aspirated engines; NOS system probihited)
First	Muhamad Riduwan Osman
Second	Ismail Mutalib
Third	Mohd Yusof Zakaria
Fourth	Syairul Sukiman
Class E – K-Car (Engines 1000cc and below; turbo-charged & supercharged engines allowed; NOS probihited)
First	Azlee Awang
Second	Mohd Ismadi Ismail
Third	Mod Yuszaidi Supangat
Class F: Avantech On The Road Class (Engines 2000cc and below: turbocharged/supercharged probihited; variable valve engine allowed; NOS probihited; cars must be road legal)
V-Tec Category
First	Suhaimi Hamid
Second	Baharul Aslan Abu Bakar
Third	Mohd Reduan Baharuddin
Fourth	Mohd Shuhaimi Shumadi
Non V-Tec Category
First	Kamarul Azeman Arshad
Second	Ahmad Nizam Ibrahim
Third	Kamarul Shah Mohd Salleh
Fourth	Mohd Johan Khairuddin
Class G – Campro (Campro Naturally Aspirated engines; up to 1601cc; suspension, brake system; engine management; gearbox & ratio free)
First	Mark Darwin
Second	Ahmad Firdaus Azman
Third	Hairul Nizam Mohd Kassim
Fourth	Heryandy Ramli

For more details, contact the Press Officer Azhar Ghazali at 019 383 7865.

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