Haikal and Mizan Dominate Malaysian Nats
The second round of Malaysian National Championship series was hosted by RCAC at the Titiwangsa RC track in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. As the track was a little bit wet in the morning the conditions were not easy for the contenders. The races started with qualifying in the 1:8 category. At his 1:8 debut race, Haikal immediately piloted his Shepherd V8 ‘11 to the provisional TQ spot in the first round. The combo of his out of the box Shepherd car with default factory settings and Shepherd tyres worked flawlessly on the damp but drying track. Despite the best effort by the other drivers during the second and third rounds of qualifying, the Shepherd driver kept his TQ position for the 45-minute final.
1:8 Qualifying
1 Haikal – 20 laps 05:12.673
2 Ah Tong – 20 laps 05:12.766
3 Haji Jusri – 20 laps 05:13.869
4 Mahathir – 19 laps 05:00.432
5 Eric Siow – 19 laps 05:01.086
6 Andak – 19 laps 05:02.105
7 Zaidi – 19 laps 05:11.346
8 Ah Kong – 18 laps 05:00.163
9 Asrul – 18 laps 05:02.028
10 Epin – 18 laps 05:07.498
The main final saw Haikal leading all the way from start to finish without ever loosing his lead. A strong performance showed Mahathir driving the new Xray RX8, but after 18 minutes he had to retire due to a mechanical failure. In the end, it was a dominant victory for Haikal with a four lap lead over the second placed Zaidi driving his Mugen MRX-5 and Asrul completing the last podium spot. Congratulations also to Epin for making his first A final appearance.
1:8 A Final Result
1 Haikal – 163 laps 45:38.621
2 Zaidi – 156 laps 45:37.973
3 Asrul – 146 laps 45:36.976
4 Ah Kong – 143 laps 45:32.719
5 Eric Siow – 134 laps 45:29.383
6 Epin – 98 laps 33:14.903
7 Andak – 79 laps 23:02.252
8 Ah Kong – 78 laps 22:38.004
9 Mahathir – 56 laps 18:11.634
10 Haji Jusri – 46 laps 13:31.300
In the 1:10 category, Mizan claimed the TQ spot with his Shepherd V10 ‘11 powered by the new Sirio Nemesis XXX engine followed by Bad in second place and Mahatir on third place both driving a Xray NT1 for Team BM Marshall.
1:10 Qualifying result:
1 Mizan – 20 laps 05:13.961
2 Bad – 19 laps 05:03.228
3 Mahathir – 19 laps 05:04.090
4 Eric Siow – 19 laps 05:08.843
5 Hafiz Fantini – 19 laps 05:13.673
6 Fun Wei – 19 laps 05:14.312
7 Zul Ojoyi – 19 laps 05:17.332
8 Ah Tong – 18 laps 04:59.436
9 Taufiqh – 18 laps 05:00.183
10 Amir Ninja – 18 laps 05:00.637
The 45-minute final saw a little bit of a drama as the race was prematurely stopped at the 30 minutes mark due to a transponder system error. Some of the drivers took the opportunity to replace their worn tyres before the restart. In the end, Mizan crossed the finishing line in first position in front of Mahathir and Fun Wei in third position driving an Xray NT1.
1:10 A Final Result
1 Mizan – 164 laps 50:49.532
2 Mahathir – 154 laps 50:25.217
3 Fun Wei – 151 laps 50:25.718
4 Taufiqh – 145 laps 50:36.404
5 Ah Tong – 139 laps 50:38.134
6 Amir Ninja – 136 laps 50:28.925
7 Eric Siow – 125 laps 50:31.301
8 Zul Ojoy – 82 laps 30:42.120
9 Bad – 58 laps 17:29.360
10 Hafiz Fantini – 40 laps 11:43.637
