GAZOO Racing Vios Sprint Cup Round 2: Key highlights

KUALA LUMPUR: UMW Toyota added more racing series under the banner of the Toyota Gazoo Racing in April this year, including the Vios Sprint Cup. This is a one-make race involving two-driver teams competing in a one-hour race to grab a total prize money amounting to RM 60k. The first round of the series was held in May, which is followed by Round 2 last weekend.

Held in conjunction with the Malaysia Championship Series, the Gazoo Racing Vios Sprint Cup Round 2 had two races, here are the key highlights - 

GR VIOS SPRINT CUP RACE 1 

On July 23, Race 1 was held in extremely wet conditions on the full, 5.543 km-long circuit. Mark Darwin from Laser Motor Racing had led the opening stages of the race with Lew following closely at the second position. However, William Ho of Toyotsu Racing and Hayden Haikal of Axle Sports were chasing at third and fourth spots, respectively. With more twists and turns, the lead positions kept on changing and ultimately Eddie Liew/Putera Adam from Laser Motor Racing won the GR Vios Sprint Cup Race 1.

Here's the Race 1 winners list-

I	Eddie Liew/Putera Adam	Laser Motor Racing
II	Mika Hakimi/Tengku Djan Ley	Prima Pearl TD Racing
III	Freddie Ang/James Liam Russell	Telagamas Toyota
IV	Jwan Hii/Timothy Yeo	Axle Sports
V	Mark Darwin/Aiyub Alamghir	Laser Motor Racing

GR VIOS SPRINT CUP RACE 2

The Race 2 of the Vios Sprint Cup Round 2 began as a dry race, while it began to drizzle after some time which made the track extremely slippery and unpredictable in certain sections. 

The 48-year veteran racer Eddie Liew and 16-year-old Putera Adam duo aced in the second round as well. “Today I really utilized all my experience to drive in the dry, wet and in heavy rain. It was a difficult race,” said Liew.  While commenting on his pact with Liew Putera said: “It’s an honour to drive with Eddie (Liew). He’s a very good driver and he used to drive with my dad.”

Another big gainer of the Race 2 was Mohamad Roni from Super Evergreen Motorsports who jumped from 14th to second position in the opening laps of the race. However, he went off the track in a race incident.

Here's the Race 2 winners list-

I	Eddie Liew/Putera Adam	Laser Motor Racing
II	William Ho/Liew Jo Choon	Toyotsu Racing
III	Zizan Razak/Mitchell Cheah	Prima Pearl TD Racing
IV	Freddie Ang/James Liam Russell	Telagamas Toyota
V	Mika Hakimi/Tengku Djan Ley	Prima Pearl TD Racing

Commenting on the GAZOO Racing Vios Sprint Cup, Ravindran said: “The two-driver and one-hour format has brought a different dimension to what we and the drivers have been used to in five seasons of the Vios Challenge. It’s incredibly exciting to watch, it’s unpredictable, and it fulfills one very important objective that is to have elite/experienced working alongside amateur/young drivers with the hope that they will be able to impart their knowledge to the next generation of drivers.”

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