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Asian Touring Car Series, Round 10

Sunday, 13 September 2009

Bira International Circuit - Pattaya, Thailand

Chin Wins Final Race while Cheung Crowned Champion

After a five year wait, Cheung Chi Sing finally lifted the Asian Touring Car Series Championship trophy in front of the Thailand touring car fans at the Bira International Circuit today. Cheung was crowned the champion in a race where Malaysian driver Chin Tzer Jinn claimed the final race win of the year.

Cheung was almost assured of the Championship at the start of the race when the then Championship leader, Man Ting Yu was not able to start due to suspension problems. Man, although disappointed at not being able to race was nothing but happy for his Team IMSP-S&D teammate.

“I am happy that Cheung is the winner because he has always been faster than I am. Next year we will come back and maybe with a new improved team” said Man who took second overall in the Asian Touring Car Series 2009 Championship.

For the Championship winner, happiness was etched on his face during the trophy presentation. “I am so happy because the trophy is so huge! I really want to thank the team and everyone for all the hard work that they have put in this year. I’ve waited for this for five years and I am just so happy” said Cheung after the race.

Third place in the Championship went to Adrian Henry D’Silva of JPM Nexus Racing. D’Silva played it safe during the race today, crossing the line in eighth after suffering some suspension problems from a puncture on lap 3 after a shunt.

“It feels good to claim this trophy after missing it last year. It was also here in Bira that I lost it to Man because I had two DNF’s. So this year, coming here I said I’m going to finish all my races and Man told me earlier to just ‘finish your race’” said D’Silva with a laugh.

In one of the closest fought races of the year, race winner, Chin and second placed finisher, Charles Ng battled for the win from start to finish, driving nose to tail throughout the race. Chin claimed the early lead before being overtaken by Ng on lap four at the first chicane. Then midway through the race, Ng had some gear shifting issues that caused him to miss third gear, leaving Chin to take the lead.

Right on the final lap of the race, at the first chicane, Ng made a move on Chin, setting up to overtake at the next turn where he got it wrong and drove onto the grass, passing Chin. But the move was deemed illegal and Chin was crowned the winner, (after the Stewards gave him a 10 sec penalty) despite crossing the chequered flag in second.

Chin had nothing but praise for his fierce competitor, claiming it as one of the best races he has fought in recent times. “We started fighting from the very beginning of the race and that was quite close. I had a good start and was ahead of Charles and subsequently due to a loss of engine power I was slightly behind and Charles took me, to his credit.

“After that he pulled away from me but I had some luck, there were some traffic, he was blocked so I managed to close the gap and that’s how the race was won” said Chin after the race.

For Ng, coming to the series during the season ender was a good decision and although having had a tough weekend suffering from a broken drive shaft in the first race and a throttle issue in the second, getting on the podium after a strong performance was the icing on the cake.

Driving alongside Frank Yee in the S&D Motorsports and claiming a trophy for the team was a good feeling and having a closely fought battle made it more worthwhile. “I was quite satisfied with my performance.

Towards the end of the race I had a shifting issue and I couldn’t put the car in third gear, so I lost a bit of time there. It was a good race overall, tough but good”.

“This race I was praying to God that hopefully nothing would break” said Ng.

Hong Kong driver, Gary Sham crossed the line in third for Team IMSP-S&D. Sham who started the race in sixth showed he had the pace and made his way through the pack early on in the race. He was able to climb up to fourth by the second lap and made his move on Cheung Chi Sing, who at that time was running in third, on lap four. From there Sham maintained a great pace to cross the chequered flag in third.

“It was a brilliant race. It is the last race of the year and I came here to enjoy the race and get the best result as I can and to be on the podium was great. I am happy with how things turned out. I will just have to try and do better next year” said Sham during the Post Race Press Conference.

Team IMSP-S&D claimed the Asian Touring Car Series Team Championship Trophy after collecting a total of 244 points over the year. The team was represented by Danny Stacy Chau during the trophy presentation. 

Asian Touring Car Series, Round 9

Sunday, 13 September 2009

Bira International Circuit

Pattaya, Thailand

Man Takes an Incident Filled Race Win

Man Ting Yu reclaimed the Championship lead in an incident filled Round 9 of the Asian Touring Car Series at Bira Circuit today. The Hong Kong native credited lady luck for an outstanding result leading him to retake the Championship lead from his Team IMSP-S&D teammate.

It was a fantastic start to the race when Gary Sham propelled himself to second right at the start from fourth and claiming the lead soon after, but the Team IMSP-S&D driver was found to have made a false start and given a drive through penalty. Sham did not see the penalty board, which was shown for three laps, and was immediately given a black flag which ended his race on lap five.

The drama did not end there. Danny Stacy Chau, who was running in second place from the opening lap, took the second chicane wrong and ended up in the gravel. He was able to rejoin the race at the end of the pack and a consistent drive saw him finish in fifth.

This allowed Man, who was quietly running in third to take the lead, which he held all the way to the chequered flag. The always modest Man, thanked the elements that worked in his favour, leaving him with the win. “I was very lucky today. I managed to get ahead because Gary had a drive through and Danny had a spin. Then from there I was alone and drove a consistent pace and I was able to keep my lead. I’m just really really happy” said Man at the Post Race Press Conference.

But all was not easy during the first part of the race as Man was pursued by the two young newcomers, Charles Ng from S&D Motorsports and Chin Tzer Jinn of JPM Nexus Racing, who both started at the back of the pack.

The duo managed some very exciting manoeuvres overtaking their way to the front of the pack by lap 5 and were immediately putting the pressure on Man. But as luck would have it, both drivers suffered from drawbacks on lap 9. Just as Chin overtook Ng, the car blew its engine, ending his race.

“Today I had a good start and I was a little more patient to hopefully get up on the podium and maybe take the win. I was in third and chasing Charles, then I managed to get to second and that was when I felt a slowing down in my engine. There was no power and then there was a puff of white smoke and the engine ceased. I just wanted to blind my competitors a little” said Chin with a hearty laugh.

As this was happening to Chin, Ng’s car also began to slow down and he was seen crawling to the pitlane, ending his race with a broken throttle sensor.

Meanwhile, behind them, the second and third placed finishers, Cheung Chi Sing and Adrian Henry D’Silva were both working their way up the ranks. Cheung started the race in sixth while D’Silva was just ahead of him in fifth. D’Silva had the better start, found his way past Cheung but the positions changed again by lap 5 where they remained all the way to the chequered flag. “I didn’t have a good start, maybe it was because I didn’t get enough sleep last night so I was a little slow. But I thought 20 laps is a lot and is enough time for me to make my way to the front so I just maintained a very consistent pace.

“Towards the end when I was in second, I saw that Man was too far ahead to catch so I just brought the car home for the points. I will definitely be chasing for another win later” said Cheung.

When asked if Man was concerned to see Cheung behind him at the end of the race, Man replied “I did see Cheung behind me, but I think we had about ten seconds difference so even if he managed to gain one second a lap, he would have needed about eight more laps, so I was not worried”.

For D’Silva, despite a gradual power steering failure, he managed to claim third, although at a crawl on the last lap. For him and his JPM Nexus team, “Bira is a very tough track and I learned from yesterday that there is no point pushing hard on the first five laps. Somehow or another people will start to fall out, make mistakes and that’s basically how I got myself up ahead. I didn’t try to do anything silly and my team told me to just bring the car home safely”.

Danny Chau and Frank Yee completed the top five finishers today, both despite having a spin at the same chicane. 

Asian Touring Car Series, Round 8

Saturday, 12 September 2009

Bira International Circuit

Cheung Chi Sing Reclaims Championship Lead with Win

Cheung Chi Sing had a brilliant end to his day at the Bira International Circuit on Saturday 12 Sept when he claimed a pole to flag win ahead of Adrian Henry D’Silva and Gary Sham.

The top three finishers all had a fantastic race with Cheung managing a great clean start and immediately began pulling away from the rest of the pack. The Team IMSP-S&D driver managed to control his pace and pulled a big gap halfway through the race.

“I am just happy with the results of the race today. It is getting me closer and closer to the Championship win. At the start, I managed to have a good start and I slowly managed to open up a gap to the second placed driver. Midway through the race I had a problem with my tyre but I was really lucky that I already opened the gap and I could hold on to the lead all the way to the finish” said a happy Cheung at the Post Race Press Conference.

Coming in second was JPM Nexus Racing driver, D’Silva. The Malaysian driver started the race in fourth and had a great start to the race, overtaking both Charles Ng and Chin Tzer Jinn as soon as the lights went out. D’Silva then lost his second place to Ng on lap 3 when Ng took the inside of the turn to gain the advantage, but five laps down, Ng suffered some problems and went into the pits, leaving D’Silva once again with second. He then managed to hold on to his position despite the charges of his teammate Chin.

“I had some problems with my first gear during the Free Practice and the boys in my team managed to rectify it. I didn’t get to test it so during the race I was totally surprised at how well it worked.

“I managed to jump Charles and TJ at the start to come up second behind Cheung. After a few laps Charles was right behind me and he overtook me on lap 3 or 4 and a few laps later while I was catching him, at the same time TJ was catching up to me, then I don’t know what happened to Charles he just went into the pits”.

For Gary Sham, starting from the pitlane was not a hindrance as he managed to gain ground with each lap. Sham first overtook Frank Yee on the third lap and then made his move on Danny Stacy Chau who then made a mistake and spun into the gravel on lap six. Danny Chau managed to rejoin the race but Sham and Yee both passed him.

Sham then continued to pursue Man Ting Yu and got him by lap 16. Luck was on his side as by this time Charles Ng had already gone in to the pits with a mechanical problem while Chin suffered a puncture on lap 17 and had to park his car on turn three, leaving Sham with third.

“Before the start I had an engine problem and the mechanics managed to fix the problem, but by the time we managed to get the car out, the pitlane had already closed leaving me to start from the pitlane. From there I just tried my best and drove as hard as I could.

“Every car I saw in front of me I managed to overtake and I did not have any problems throughout the race. I think I managed to put pressure on the drivers instead of being pressured by them” said Sham with a laugh. At the end of the race, Man Ting Yu crossed the line in fourth ahead of Frank Yee, Danny Stacy Chau and Caesar Wong, with Chin Tzer Jinn and Charles Ng both with a DNF.

Asian Touring Car Series, Round 4

Saturday, 30 May 2009

Sepang International Circuit

Chin Claims Second Win of the Weekend

Chin Tzer Jinn stole the limelight in the Asian Touring Car Series Round 2 at the Asian Festival of Speed as he sealed a double win at the Sepang International Circuit in style.

The Malaysian who won Race 1 on Saturday(30 May), took Race 2 honours as well after winning it despite starting from the back of the pack.

Chin was quick out of the blocks, but got entangled with Hong Kong’s Gary Sham forcing the safety car to be deployed just one lap into the race.

For the next two laps behind the safety car, the nine remaining cars lined up for a restart with Chin forced to be at the back.

“I had a pretty good start to get to fourth but after the incident I thought my race was over. Nevertheless, I got back into the pack and it was hard work for me from then on. And with some luck I was fortunate to take every car one at a time as they were having personal battles and I could concentrate on my race,” said Chin who eventually passed all the cars and crossed the chequered flag in 26:59.833s to win the race.

Chin’s pace was even to much for championship leader Cheung Chi Sing who eventually finished the race in second spot despite having mechanical problems.

“Yes, it was disappointing to finish second as I was leading most of the race but I had a gearbox problem during the race and so I could have finished lower,” said the Hong Kong driver. “However, the weekend was a positive one for me and the team and the most importantly we have the car in good condition for the next race,” added Cheung.

Third place Man Ting Yu also had a disappointing race as he had led for a time. Man however dropped two spots in Lap 4 sighting some technical problems as the cause.

He however made up for his poor showing by trailing Adrian Henry D’ Silva and eventually snatched the final podium spot in Lap 8.

“I took the lead at the start but fell three places due to some misjudgments but I kept with third place Adrian and made the most of the first gap I saw to finish third.The season will be tough but this weekend we have learnt a lot on the car’s performance,” added Man.

Asian Touring Car Series, Round 3

Chin Takes the Win for ATCS on Home Ground

A gapping hole, a broken clutch and some good luck were some the dramas in the Asian Touring Car Series Race 1 during the Asian Festival of Speed at the Sepang International Circuit on Saturday.

Malaysia’s Chin Tzer Jinn bagged the win after clocking a total time of 25:06.753s in the 10 lap race around the 5.543km circuit.

Another Malaysian and the series’ Division Two defending champion Eric Yeo emerged second while current championship point leader Cheung Chi Sin of Hong Kong took third spot.

Chin, who had an average start, kept his distance from a Turn 1 incident ahead of him and pounced at the first chance to snatch the lead in Lap 3.

“Knowing that the leading pack would be fighting for position, I kept my distance but as soon I had a clear track I made my move and held my position,” said Chin.

Chin’s race was made a little easier as Yeo suffered a clutch failure.

“Sometime in Lap 3 my clutch failed to engage and I was forced to drive without it with seven laps to go,” said Yeo. “Although I had some bad luck I am very happy to have been able to hold my position in second place,” added

Yeo who’s team will be working flatout to get the car back in racing condition. “The second race will be held in the morning so everyone will be working double time to get it rectified,” he said.

It was almost a similar situation for Cheung as he crossed the finish line with a broken suspension. ‘In the mid point of the race, Frank (Yee) hit me and I broke my suspension forcing me to hold the car together for the remaining laps but I’m happy I managed to and keep my championship hunt alive,” said Cheung.

Nevertheless, Cheung did have some good fortune as well. Running in fifth place on Lap 2 with Harry Chai and Gary Sham in third and fourth respectively, both of the drivers ahead of him experienced car malfunction.

Harry was first to pit on Lap 4 and two laps later Gary had to retire making the third podium spot Cheung’s for the taking.

Cheung Takes First Win while Yee Claims Round 2 

Cheung Chi Sing(3rd from left) takes the first win of the season while Frank Yee(3rd from right)) secured the second win in two action filled races at the Sepang International Circuit on Sunday 19 April. 

Cheung, who started Round 1 in pole position managed a great start and immediately pulled away from the rest of the pack. He led the race all the way to the chequered flag, crossing the line 1.975 seconds ahead of Danny Stacy Chau in second and a further 3.229 seconds ahead of Adrian Henry D’Silva in third.  

“It was a very smooth start. As I mentioned earlier, if I managed to get a clean start and take the lead, then it would be easy for me to take the race win. I did not do anything out of the ordinary, I just kept my pace and constantly checked my mirrors and stayed ahead” said a very happy Cheung at the Post-Race Press Conference.  

D’Silva and Danny Chau both got off the race line well at the start and had a close battle going into turn one but D’Silva made a mistake at turn two that relegated him down to fifth, behind Frank Yee and Harry Chai.  

“I managed to get away from Adrian but in the last few laps he caught up to me. I was lucky to be able to stay ahead and to finish the race in second. It was a good clean race. I did try to catch up to Cheung but as soon as he saw me closing in, he managed to pull a gap and stayed ahead” said Danny Chau.  

On lap 4, D’Silva managed to get past Chai and started to move in on Yee in third, the three way battle continued on for three laps before D’Silva found an opening and took Yee at turn three for third, a position he maintained to the end of the race.  

“I think I underestimated the grip, it was drizzling slightly and my tyres were a bit cold. I was trying to take first position from Cheung so I closed up on him at turn 1 and I pushed it a little but lost it on turn 2. After the spin I managed to catch up to he guys ahead, to Harry and then to Frank. It was tough because these two guys were having a close battle. It was only in the last four to five laps that I managed to overtake Frank for the podium” said a very tired but happy D’Silva.  

Behind D’Silva, Yee managed to keep a distance from the battle for fifth and sixth where Chai and Man Ting Yu continued to swap positions a few times in the final ten laps of the race before Chai took fifth on the last lap of the race.  

The duo was happy with the great battle with Man jokingly saying “It was all part of the strategy. I knew if I finished fifth, with the reverse grid order, I would not get the pole position in the next race, so I let Harry pass me at the end”.  

In the second race, the grid was lined with the top six drivers in reverse grid format, leaving Man to take pole, with Chai taking second, followed by Yee, D’Silva, Danny Chau and Cheung.  

Yee got off to a great start and was immediately at the front of the pack followed by Chai and Man. Singaporean driver, George Ong was caught off-guard and drove on the grass before rejoining the race behind Gary Sham.  

Up ahead, Cheung was already making his climb up the ranks, first overtaking Danny Chau at turn 1 into lap four, then he began to make his move on Man, takes him at the next lap and began chasing down Yee at the front of the pack. The duo battled it out for two laps before Cheung takes a spin on the last turn and parked his car on the gravel, ending his race.  

Yee managed to maintain his lead all the way to the chequered flag, crossing the line ahead of Harry Chai and Man Ting Yu. “The track was a little damp at the start so the car was sliding a little. I managed to find a spot at the start and managed to get out of traffic and just maintained my pace from there.  

“In the first few laps I had Harry chasing me but I just concentrated and kept my pace. In the last few laps, Cheung caught up to me and actually got past me. I just kept with my pace and followed him but at the last corner, where it was a little damp and slippery, Cheung got caught off-guard and parked on the gravel, leaving me with the win” said a very happy Yee at the press conference. 

Chai was running in second with Danny Chau, Man and D’Silva battling it out for third, but disaster struck on lap 12 when D’Silva managed to out-brake Danny Chau and Man into turn 1, taking the inside line. The trio drove almost three abreast overtaking one another throughout that lap before D’Silva and Danny Chau had a coming together.  

Danny Chau was left to head into the pits to check on his car and rejoined half a lap down while the Malaysian driver, who suffered from a damaged rear wheel parked his car on the grass at turn 3 ending his race. Man managed to stay out of trouble to collect third. 

For Chai, finishing second is a great finish especially to be able to have a one-two finish for his S&D Motorsport team and at his home race while having a great time in a very eventful race. “I had a really good start and at the first corner, then Man spun in front of me so I thought I had a good chance to overtake him but suddenly I felt something at the back of my car. I didn’t know if it was wet or oil so my car had a little slide but I managed to catch it.  

“From there, I just maintained my position although I did try to overtake Frank but my car did not have the power and I just maintained my pace for the race” said Chai during the post race press conference.  

Man’s first turn mistake cost him a possible first placed finish, but the Hong Kong driver was happy with third. “I made a big mistake at turn 1. I tried to do a late-braking but I made a big mistake and braked too late and I went off the line. I lost four to five positions. 

“I tried my best to catch up to Cheung and Danny then when both of them had their outs, I managed to finish in third from that. I have to say, I was really lucky today. I have to thank Danny and Frank, because without them, I would not have been able to race this weekend”.