The second season of Thailand Super Series (TSS) wrapped up in real style last weekend as the final round of the year, the spectacular Bangsaen Thailand Speed Festival, played out once again on the iconic streets of the Thai seaside resort and fishing village. And there was a double bonanza for fans at the peak of the programme as not only were individual race wins at stake but the titles in the top two Super Car classes were both decided on the challenging and unforgiving streets of Bangsaen.
At the pinnacle of Thai motorsport sits Super Car Class 1-GT3. Only the very best of the very best can hope to win this ultimate prize and as the sunlight faded away on Sunday afternoon we welcomed the second champion of the ‘TSS Era’, Khun Chonsawat Asavahame. He thought big this year, put together a team that shared his high ambitions, fully utilised the crack support of Reiter Engineering and even upgraded to a new racecar mid year.
It all paid off superbly. Khun Chonsawat put in two highly committed drives in Bangsaen, kept a clear focus on the points standings and emerged as the champion. Adding the Drivers’ title to the Teams’ crown that Reiter Vattana Motorsport had already locked down was the icing on the cake. Job well done.
In Super Car Class 2-GTM there was a very worthy new champion. Khun Voravud Bhirombhakdi raised his game this year, his team also raised its game and they all really, really wanted to win this title. Khun Voravud led the classification right from the first race of the year and when the pressure reached boiling point – and the gap came down to just a single point going into last weekend – driver and team both stood up to be counted.
In the extreme intensity of the final showdown Singha Motorsport Team Thailand never flinched and in the end they romped away, demolishing their opposition for the title in both races as Khun Voravud bagged a double maximum score.
The Bangsaen trophy, wrought in shape of the town’s signature ‘scroll’, is the most prestigious individual racing prize in Thailand and the individual wins themselves were the story of two ‘pro’ drivers who came, saw and delivered for their respective teams.
Khun Tomáš Enge has become a firm favourite during his first competitive season here, Thai motorsport fans always respond to utter commitment and with this world class star you never get any less than 110%. He started off the year with a win in Sepang and he ended it with two more stunning victories in Bangsaen. No one was quite sure before the event just how well the Camaro would work around these tight and tricky streets. The Czech answered those questions emphatically as he romped away at the front.
In Super Car Class 2-GTM a new face rocked into town, Khun Darryl O’Young. He’s a superstar across Asia, the fans here certainly knew his name, but he’s never been to Bangsaen before – so attention was on him whenever he clambered into the cockpit of B-Quik Racing’s red and white Porsche. He lived up to his reputation; two blistering poles were followed up by two wins after he led both races from lights-to-flag. Khun Darryl simply impressed everyone with his pace and ability to get to grips with this track.
Saturday: Super Car Class 1-GT3
On a hot and dry Saturday afternoon, the atmosphere was electric as Bangsaen built up to the first of the two ‘big’ races. There wasn’t a spare seat in the house as the Class 1-GT3 cars lined up and all eyes were trained on the big black Camaro as the pack took in their two warm up laps before forming up in side by side order as they rumbled down parallel to the beach, swung round the paddock hairpin and funneled through the tight sweeping right hander that empties the cars out onto the start-finish straight.
The long power-sapping main straight plays right into the hands of the Camaro and Khun Tomáš had no problem defending his pole position as the lights turned green and the cars thundered through the high speed curving Turn 1 before slamming on the brakes for Turn 2. The Czech former F1 driver led the snake of GT3 cars as they headed up into the mountain section for the first time. Behind the Camaro Khun Piti Bhirombhakdi’s yellow and blue Porsche 997 GT3-R slotted into P2 just ahead of Khun Chonsawat, with the factory Toyota M101-86 of Khun Kazuya Oshima next up.
Khun Piti harassed the Camaro over the opening laps, but in reality Khun Tomáš was in control of the race and as his tyres warmed up and he was able to unleash the full potential of the big machine the Reiter Vattana Motorsport driver’ set about opening up a cushion, which grew to almost 15 seconds by the time the checkered flag fell after 19 laps and 33:56.335 minutes of intense racing.
No one had been too sure how the Camaro would perform around Bangsaen with its many tricky sections, pervasive bumps and even through the now widened hairpin – certainly Khun Tomáš and the Reiter Vattana engineers had approached the event very cautiously and with a lot of meticulous preparation. In fact when the clock had come out for qualifying, he banged in a best lap that was three and a half seconds faster than anyone else and he then proceeded to carry that pace over into the first race.
His rivals simply didn’t have an answer to the Camaro and the big American ‘muscle’ car, developed specially for GT3 racing by Germany’s Reiter Engineering, had etched its name into the prestigious history books of the Bangsaen Thailand Speed Festival by the time the evening gloom started to roll on Saturday.
“It was a pretty easy race for me except for the first two laps when it took me a while to warm up the tyres and Piti was pushing me a bit on those first laps,” Khun Tomáš said afterwards. “But then as soon as I warmed up the tyres I could pull away and control the pace. There was a Safety Car, that was a little bit unexpected but it’s a street course and these things happen pretty quickly and we lost two competitors. I expected the Toyota to be faster during the race, which is a shame, but we had a perfect run and with Vattana first, second and fourth, again a perfect result like we had in Bira in the first race.”
Delivering a first ever street circuit race win for the Reiter Camaro GT3 was also a very special moment for the Czech driver who has been integral to this car’s extensive development programme. “The car has been really good throughout the whole weekend, surprisingly good,” he continued.
“For me the laptimes tell everything and we know the laptimes we did last year and what I was able to achieve with the Lamborghini [in testing here last year] and with new tyres on Chonsawat’s car on Tuesday. So to be faster with the Camaro was a bit of a surprise as I just guess maybe the Gallardo is a bit better on the bumps,” Khun Tomáš continued. His reputation as one of the toughest racers in motorsport goes ahead of him and he was also very happy to be racing at Bangsaen competitively for the first time. “These types of crazy circuits are perfect for my nature, it really does something for me,” he added with a laugh.
The returning Khun Piti drove superbly to P2 but his car failed a post-race weight check and that moved Khun Chonsawat into the runners up spot. He had driven a solid race, opening out a big gap to the cars behind as he locked into championship ‘mode’, aiming to pick up the points he required to keep his only remaining championship rival, Khun Tomáš, out of the frame. He had a 20-point advantage coming into Bangsaen and after the first race the difference between the two drivers was narrowed by just 5-points meaning Khun Chonsawat was well on the way to the title with just one race remaining.
It also gave Reiter Vattana Motorsport an impressive 1-2 finish in the opening race and in fact Reiter Engineering-built racecars swept up the top four positions. With the Teams’ championship having long been decided in Reiter Vattana Motorsport’s favour this result simply extended the team’s already massive advantage.
Third place went to the True Visions-sponsored Lamborghini of Khun Suttiluck Buncharoen; that equaled his best ever result with the car in Class 1-GT3, but he reckoned afterward that his Gallardo was still someway off where he wanted it to be and was looking forward to a better final race. “I have a problem with the rebound, we have not enough time for setting as we didn’t practice Tuesday and [there was] no practice Thursday [before qualifying] and so [I] have a problem with the many bumps,” he said. “But tomorrow I think it’s okay.”
Fourth place went to the Vattana Motorsport Lamborghini of Khun Umar A. Rahman who was happy to stretch the legs of his new machine after a busy week. His race engine only arrived back from Germany on Monday after being shipped to Reiter to be rebuilt following the Buriram races and it was installed on Tuesday evening after the conclusion of the first day’s practice. The car required some right hand front repairs after qualifying which Khun Umar admitted were something of a compromise, so the car wasn’t at all perfect.
After debuting in Class 1-GT3 in Buriram, this was Khun Umar’s second event in the machine and following on from a double podium result in the North East this latest finish in fact made it three straight podiums from three races, a very decent start for Khun Umar in the top class.
The first retirement of the race had gone to Khun Indharasak Techaterasiri who was making his return to TSS having been missing from the entry lists ever since the opening round in Sepang back in May. He was behind the wheel of the Gallardo GT3 he raced last year, so although it was a familiar cockpit he still had to blow off the cobwebs and he clipped the temporary chicane on the first lap, which resulted in him making contact with the wall. That put the black-and-grey machine out on the spot.
“I came because Khun [Chonsawat] will get the championship this race so that’s why I want to join,” explain Khun Indharasak of his return for Bangsaen. “So I tell him I want to drive a Lamborghini [and] he has one car left so I take it for this race. The whole year I didn’t drive and I was too aggressive and then I got an accident.”
The second and final retirement came when the new Toyota M101-86 coasted to a halt on the run uphill from Turn 2 on lap 7. The Dome-built car was stranded in a dangerous position so the Safety Car was deployed to pull the red, white and silver machine clear. After the new car’s sensational double win on its TSS debut in Buriram during the last round it was back down to earth with a bang as the Toyota Team Thailand couldn’t quite extract the full potential of the car around this street circuit. However the new M101-86, developed to next-generation regulations for Super GT’s GT300 class, clearly has a lot of potential to be unlocked – and it still had another race in Bangsaen to contest on Sunday.
Saturday: Super Car Class 2-GTM
The ‘pro’ driver promised much and he delivered in qualifying, Khun Darryl lining up the B-Quik Racing Porsche 997 GT3 Cup on pole position. But while Khun Darryl would make himself comfortable at the front, the ‘local’ heroes would be into action right behind; Khun Voravud and Khun Traitanit both dug deep from the start and both turned in race defining performances.
Khun Voravud started this race under more pressure than he’s ever faced before. The Ferrari driver kicked off the year with a double win in Sepang and he’s has led the championship ever since, but by Bangsaen that lead was down to just one point. And it couldn’t have been any worse as it was the reigning Super Car Class 2-GTM champion, Khun Nattavude Charoensukhawatana who was on his tail, they don’t come any faster or more experienced than the factory Toyota star. No one in Thailand knows better how to win a championship from behind. And it didn’t get any easier as Khun Aekarat Discharoen won in Buriram to close the gap to the front down to 4 points, so Khun Voravud had it all to do.
He rose to the occasion superbly, lining up his Ferrari 458 Challenge on the front row alongside Khun Darryl, just hundredths behind the experienced ‘pro’. But, crucially, with the B-Quik driver being ineligible to score championship points P2 would give Khun Voravud the maximum points haul. He would therefore have to drive with caution foremost in his mind, no heroics with the pole sitter were called for.
At the green lights Khun Darryl made a clean getaway but it was Khun Traitanit from Row 2 who used all the power of the brutal Nissan GT-R to his advantage to power through into P2 and displace Khun Voravud. Significantly, Khun Nattavude got the jump on the Porsche of Khun Sarun Sereethoranakul to move into P4 and tuck up onto the back of the Ferrari – the neck-and-neck championship rivals running together on the first lap.
Khun Henk J. Kiks in the Audi R8 LMS Cup also got a good start to move ahead of Khun Aekarat and claim P6 with Khun Craig Corliss in the Holden Commodore VE next up ahead of the Porsche of Khun Kantasak Kusiri who was quickly swarming all over the back of the ‘Australian V8 Supercar’.
However into Turn 18, the paddock hairpin, the top running order was reshuffled as Khun Sarun tapped Khun Nattavude in the fight for P4, sending the Toyota into a big sliding spin right in the middle of the bend – and that saw cars flying in every direction.
Khun Nattavude put his entire repertoire of street racing ‘recovery’ skills into full use as he kept his foot on the gas and spun the car back round in one fluid motion, accelerating back into the race. Superb car control and awareness as ever from the Thai star.
Khun Sarun and Khun Henk blasted round the outside of the Toyota and moved up to P4 and P5 respectively while Khun Aekarat also took the long route but wasn’t able to make it stick as Khun Nattavude clung onto P6 and Khun Aekarat took P7. In championship terms it was a decisive incident, as Khun Voravud was down the road now in third while Khun Nattavude was ten seconds and three places further back. It then got worse for the Toyota driver as his power steering had been damaged and his laptimes started to suffer.
And it also got better for the Ferrari driver as he regained second place from Khun Traitanit who was now suffering a loss of engine power. The championship balance had swung in favour of Khun Voravud and the race was only just over a lap old.
Behind this group there was a real ding dong battle shaping up for P8 as Khun Craig was having to fend off Khun Kantasak while Khun Jakthong Navasoopanich in the second Nissan GT-R had closed in as had Khun Nattapong Horthongkum, the second factory Toyota driver having started from the back of the grid, while just behind them came the Porsche of Khun Shuipang Kanjanapas.
The race saw its first retirement on the third lap as Khun Visarut Chotiwitsavaitkul retired the red Vattana Motorsport-entered Gallardo LP520-4 following a transmission leak that left him unable to shift the gears up or down.
That fight for P8 (which became one for P7 as this train of cars swallowed up the struggling Toyota of Khun Nattavude) would rage on before Khun Nattapong slipped off the back and Khun Jakthong retired his GT-R on the fifth lap with gearbox problems. Eventually Khun Kantasak found a way past the Holden and he would start hauling down the gap to Khun Aekarat in front. But, although he pressed on hard, the deficit was far too large to bridge.
On the seventh lap Khun Michael Freeman came in to the pits to retire in the Innovation Motorsport Mazda RX-8. The Australian was suffering brake issues and parked the newly acquired car up rather than risking any damage; after all this was being regarded by the team effectively a first test run. The car, which came to Bangsaen direct from Macau, was making its TSS debut. In attendance in the pitlane were engineers from Knight Sports, the Japanese team that built the car and ran it in Macau last month.
The key battle of the race would be for P3 and Khun Traitanit worked all race to hold the position with a car that was suffering mounting problems. He fended off Khun Sarun and Khun Henk successfully for lap after lap, but it was no easy feat and Khun Traitanit’s name is growing in stature in the paddock with every race. The Nissan is a locally built racecar that has been developed from a road production model by NSports-Yokohama-Project Mu Team Thailand and it is a real testimonial to their skills and that of the driver that the ‘heavyweight’ car, bristling with production parts (starting with the gearbox) locked down third place after 19 challenging laps to give the team a real moral boosting result in their final event of the year.
Khun Traitanit returned to the team last year after a hiatus from racing and it’s been a revelation to have him back. A real close quarters fighter his aggressive nature suits the GT-R which needs a driver with commitment and toughness.
When he crossed the line Khun Traitanit was less than 10 seconds behind Khun Darryl, who made it look easy at the front. Khun Voravud finished between them and that gave him 20 points – and with Khun Nattavude slipping down the order to the back and Khun Aekarat finishing fifth – that made the title almost his. Almost though is a well-used word in motor racing and there was still one day to go.
Khun Darryl was happy to claim the win on his first ever visit to Bangsaen, a lights to flag victory that built on his pole position. “The race went exactly how we planned, quite smooth from beginning to end,” he said. “The start went off quite well, I was able to get a really good getaway as the lights turned green and from there I was able to open up a lead.
“They were fighting behind me for the second position for maybe the first five laps which gave me a good chance to get away and open up a gap and from that point I was just trying to watch my back and maintain my lead,” he continued. “That was really my strategy, to try to save my tyres as I have to use them tomorrow as well as managing the gap behind, but it was good to get a break at the beginning and just drive a good comfortable race.”
An acknowledged street racing expert, Khun Darryl was enjoying his first visit to Bangsaen. “It’s a fantastic track,” he said. “The B-Quik team has given me tremendous support and it’s a good event, hopefully I will see if there is a chance to comeback next year.”
Khun Voravud’s race engineer Khun Gianluca Soli was delighted with his driver’s result, Singha Motorsport Team Thailand had worked hard for this weekend, they were the first team to have their car prepared and ready to go in the paddock back on Monday evening – and all that effort paid off. They had given Khun Voravud a very good car and he had dug deep and delivered a perfect performance, finishing less than 3 seconds behind Khun Darryl.
The driver was pleased too. “The race went well, I didn’t get a good start but I managed to climb up to second again and then just maintain the pace, not to do anything stupid as we know we are one point ahead so there’s no room for error,” explained Khun Voravud afterwards. “Luca, the race engineer radioed me all the time about my pace and just to go conservative. I could have pushed a little bit but there was no point and everything went well. Still it’s not safe as there’s tomorrow to go.”
An excellent third place went to Khun Traitanit. He had started off the year with a similar finish in Sepang but it had gone downhill since then. Three straight DNFs over the middle of the season cost him dearly but a fourth place in Buriram handed him his second trip to the podium of the year and in Bangsaen he made his third trip of up the rostrum steps. Arguably his was the best drive of the race, Khun Traitanit battled and nursed the car over 33 minutes of racing and it was a popular result.
As ever there was a story to tell and he had suffered technical issues during the race. “In qualifying after a tyre puncture and all the red flags we got only two good laps in so today I started in third place,” he said. However, on the grid Khun Traitanit noted that he was right in amongst the three drivers still locked into the title battle so he didn’t want to be the cause of any problems. “In third place at the start I’m between the points leader and the second placed driver, so it’s very hard because they are my friends.”
He made a superb getaway at the green lights, but then it started to unravel. “I had a good start and got second place on the first lap and after that my intercooler hose came out so no power, that’s why I slow down,” he continued. “I just slow down a little and I also have no sixth gear as well as no power. So after the Ferrari passed me I try to control the car, try to maintain everything in the car and finish in third place. [Khun Sarun] is really fast and everyone knows my car is very heavy and has a brake problem and no power so I have to defend all the way and 19 laps is very long so I try my best.” His best was good enough and he delivered a superb result for the team and its many fans.
Khun Sarun was handed a 30-second penalty after the race for his contact with Khun Nattavude on the first lap and that dropped him down to seventh place. That promoted Khun Henk to fourth after a race when he had carried good speed but been unable to pass Khun Traitanit or Khun Sarun in front. Emphasising that quick pace the Audi driver claimed the fastest lap of the race in 1:44.644.
Khun Sarun had another excellent race, pushing hard at Khun Traitanit for P2 while also covering Khun Henk behind. “I tried to pass the GT-R as it was a bit slower,” the former ‘drift’ star explained. “But I cannot pass as on the straight as the GT-R is so powerful so after the third lap I push hard until I finish, so it’s a good race.”
Behind the Audi came home three Porsches, Khun Aekarat was classified fifth to nab the final podium step, that result also moved him up to the championship runners up spot overnight, while Khun Kantasak, after starting at the back of the grid due to his qualifying times being disallowed, battled up to finish sixth. Khun Sarun was classified seventh after his penalty.
In eighth place came Khun Craig, the last driver on the lead lap, he had spent much of the race keeping Khun Kantasak at bay and then Khun Nattapong. “The car was good but I just didn’t settle into the race but I’m hoping to improve today,” he said.
For a second race in succession Khun Craig had an engineer from the Holden’s builder, Triple Eight Engineering, to assist him. The New Zealander has always gone well here in his big ‘V8’ cars and Triple Eight’s Khun Andrew Simpson agreed that the machines could be very competitive on this type of temporary track. “The cars suit a street circuit, they ride the kerbs well and they get the power down well,” said the Australian engineer. “This weekend we’re just not fast enough yet, we’re still a little bit off the pace, but we will go all out tomorrow and I’m sure Craig will get in amongst it and we certainly should be able to run up the front.”
Then came Khun Shuipang in ninth, he ran almost the entire race without his front bumper, which he removed at the chicane, while the top ten was completed by Khun Nattavude, two laps down. The reigning champion had struggled to the finish without his power steering and crucially, with Khun Darryl not registered to collect any championship points, he scored two points for all his efforts.
So his run at the championship wasn’t quite over yet, but to retain the title Khun Nattavude would have to win on Sunday and Khun Voravud score no points, so it was pretty much a case of waiting for the mathematics to sort itself out.
The final classified finisher was Khun Pete Thongchua in the RZ Racing Mazda RX-8. After a tough few races in the new machine this was a decent result but his mechanics would have to work late into the night as they attempted to improve the driveability of the car in time for Sunday’s final race. The fifth retirement was Khun Nattapong, he lost his final drive three laps from home and that ended his afternoon’s work.
Sunday: Super Car Class 1-GT3
The Camaro was the talk of the paddock after Khun Tomáš’ blistering pace on Saturday – the simple question was could anyone take the fight to the big black machine during Sunday’s second and final race? However it was Khun Chonsawat who stole the first lap headlines as he got the jump from Row 2 at the rolling start to take the lead with Khun Piti tucking in behind and Khun Tomáš slipping to third as they all braked into Turn 3.
There was nothing between the #28 Lamborghini and the #12 Porsche as the cars flew through the mountain section for the first time and in fact Khun Piti nudged the back of Khun Chonsawat as they muscled through the hairpin. In turn he had Khun Tomáš harrying him and the Camaro would power past on the main straight.
Behind them Khun Indharasak had the early advantage over Khun Kazuya and the pair would be locked together over many laps as the Toyota driver tried in vain to find a way past the Lamborghini driver who was now getting right back into the groove in a car that he knows very well but hadn’t driven since this race last year. The battling duo became a battling threesome, as Khun Suttiluck was right behind them over the early laps.
The top three though were indulging in an enthralling battle as Khun Piti wrestled his was back past the Camaro and quickly swarmed all over the race leader while Khun Tomáš dropped away a few car lengths. However Khun Chonsawat, who was defending his title advantage, had to drive with some care. That said he’s a racer at heart and although Khun Piti pushed down either side, even getting level with him at points, Khun Chonsawat resolutely defended his line and kept the Porsche at bay.
That was until he ran wide out of the mountain hairpin and Khun Piti and Khun Tomáš took full advantage. With Khun Chonsawat needing the points to make certain of the title, he then backed off, conserved the car and consolidated P3 while the top two romped away. Khun Tomáš would once again make full use of the power of the Camaro to swiftly regain the lead.
Over the second half of the race Khun Tomáš would ease out his lead and when the checkered flag was waved after 19 laps the gap had grown to just over 10 seconds. It was another superb driving demonstration from the Czech driver, which once again proved the pace of this car on a street circuit.
It was also a very impressive drive from Khun Piti to finish second, the returning Thai star driver showing the fans exactly what they had been missing – and they were as equally enthusiastic (if not more so) at the brief sightings of his A-list actress wife, Khun Woranuch Wongsawan, in the paddock.
Three quarters of a minute adrift of the top two, Khun Chonsawat kept it all very neat and tidy. He stayed clear of trouble and brought the #28 Gallardo home in P3 – and that wrapped up the Drivers’ title. He winds up with a 17-point advantage over his teammate in the final standings. In the end it finishes with Khun Chonsawat on 307-points and Khun Tomáš on 290-points. A popular title winner, this highly experienced driver has now become the second top-level champion of the ‘TSS Era’, succeeding Khun Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak who won the Class 1-GT3 crown last year.
Half a minute down the road Khun Indharasak led out a train of three racecars covered by just 2.4 seconds. On his first appearance in TSS since the season opener, Khun Indharasak drove very well to withstand intense pressure from the factory Toyota for most of the race and in fact towards the end Khun Suttiluck got ahead the new M101-86 to claim P5 and the final podium step, pushing the Japanese car into P6. “The Toyota is chasing me like crazy so I have to try and get a gap,” Khun Indharasak said with a laugh afterwards. It was good to see him back on form in the final race and expect to see him in the thick of the front running action next year.
Khun Umar dropped out of the running within sight of the checkered flag after he suffered a loss of brake pressure coming into Turn 16. The front left corner of the Gallardo took the brunt of the accident but he reported later than the damage was a lot lighter than it looked. Khun Umar had taken a trip to the podium on Saturday and was satisfied with his weekend having achieved consistently his target laptimes. There wasn’t any surprise when it came to the fastest lap of the race; Khun Tomas posted that in 1:38.778.
Sunday: Super Class 2-GTM
Khun Darryl made it two wins out of two on Sunday and adding those victories to his two pole positions that were followed up by two lights-to-flag race leads it was a perfect debut in TSS for the visiting ‘pro’ driver. He came, did the job he was brought for and lived up to every inch of his big international reputation. And who said Porsche’s ubiquitous ‘Cup’ was old news in Class 2-GTM? That made it three straight wins for the German sportscar counting back to Khun Aekarat’s victory in the second race in Buriram.
But arguably Khun Darryl’s win wasn’t really the story of the race. The headlines went to Khun Voravud who made it two runners up spots on the trot. But more importantly that was his second maximum score of the weekend and allowed him to claim the Drivers’ championship title in some style. After seeing his yearlong lead in the classification reduced to just a single point after Buriram the Ferrari driver turned on the style and delivered big in Bangsaen – no one could get anywhere near him and the final points standings see him pull away from the chasing pack. He had soaked up intense pressure all week and has proved himself to be one of the top Thai racers.
Race Engineer Khun Gianluca was delighted after the afterwards and the team was in celebratory mood. They had worked extremely hard for this title, focus, commitment and attention to every tiny detail has been the key to success. “We are very, very happy, today we did a P2 behind a pro driver with an incredible laptime from Voravud,” said the Italian. “Everything was very good, driver, car, team so today we have won the championship so we are super happy, nothing to complain about and actually it’s very super good.”
The second Class 2-GTM race of the weekend delivered just as much excitement as the first. At the green lights Khun Darryl led the pack away again with Khun Voravud tucking in behind and Khun Traitanit holding onto P3. Behind the menacing GT-R came Khun Sarun, Khun Henk, Khun Craig and Khun Aekarat. By the time the field had reached the roundabout, halfway round the first lap, Khun Darryl had opened up five to six cars lengths over Khun Voravud and the race for P1 seemed to be over.
But not for long, Khun Traitanit was flying again and he deposed Khun Voravud from P2 and proceeded to close the gap to the B-Quik Porsche. Further back there were two battles brewing by the second lap as Khun Aekarat tried to find a way past his team mate Khun Craig while Khun Kantasak was all over the back of Khun Jakthong.
Khun Michael clipped the barriers in the RX-8 on the second lap just before the roundabout and that saw the Safety Car deployed with the top order at that point being Khun Darryl, Khun Traitanit, Khun Voravud, Khun Sarun and Khun Henk – an almost carbon copy of the previous day. Also out on lap 2 was Khun Nattapong, his second DNF of a tough weekend that had also seen him starting both races from the back of the grid.
At the restart Khun Traitanit swarmed all over Khun Darryl with Khun Voravud tucking in behind while the rest of the pack started to spread out. Khun Kantasak squeezed past Khun Jakthong in one of the key mid order battles but just in front, and try as he might, Khun Aekarat couldn’t get close enough to the big orange Holden to make a move stick and after a few laps Khun Kantasak caught them up and it became a three car battle for position.
Khun Traitanit continued to push Khun Darryl for P1 as the GT-R showed impressive form on this circuit. However the Nissan involvement in the race halved on lap 9 as Khun Jakthong coasted round to pit, he was suffering transmission problems for a second successive race.
Then the same issues started to affect Khun Traitanit who began to drop back towards Khun Voravud who was in turn seeing Khun Sarun closing up. Behind them in fifth, six and seventh places were Khun Nattavude, Khun Henk and Khun Craig and the gaps were opening up.
Khun Voravud got past the GT-R and regained second place while Khun Traitanit fell backwards, he would continue to plummet down the field before losing his transmission totally with two laps to go, parking up in the mountain section. That was a disappointment for the fans – as well as his A-list girlfriend, Khun Mai Sukhontrava, who was cheering him on from the pitlane.
Khun Henk closed up on Khun Nattavude but the hugely experienced Toyota driver isn’t easy to pass and while the Dutchman took a look a few times he dropped back to keep engine temperatures down. Late in the race Khun Craig spun and that allowed Khun Aekarat to move up to P6 and he pulled a couple of lengths out over the chasing Khun Kantasak over the final laps.
After 19 laps Khun Darryl took the checkered flag while three seconds back Khun Voravud took the title with his second impressive drive of the weekend. Third, and just 4 seconds off the Ferrari was Khun Sarun who delivered another excellent drive to round his debut year in Super Car out in some style.
“Today’s race is very good,” he said afterward. “In the first two laps the GT-R pass me but then he have some problem with the car and slowed down and I pass him back so I push really hard to push the Ferrari. It was a very good race.”
Khun Nattavude took fourth place, but that wasn’t enough and he saw his title slip away. However this is one of the fastest and most experienced drivers racing in Thailand so expect to see him back chasing titles next year.
Khun Henk was left to rue the traffic he had faced in qualifying as he clearly had plenty of race pace but was unable to get past the Toyota on what is a very tricky circuit to make up ground; the gap between the two was less than a second at the checkered flag.
However the B-Quik Racing Team Owner was very happy with the way the weekend had shaken out. “For the team it’s been a great weekend, two race wins, four podiums, four Drivers’ trophies, two Teams’ trophies, thanks to Darryl of course,” the Dutchman said afterwards. “For me I had a great weekend, my qualifying wasn’t so good and that cost me a lot I think in hindsight, but my race speed was good yesterday and today again it’s good. But today I’m behind Nattavude and you know the book is closed if you are waiting for a mistake from him, there isn’t going to be any. I enjoyed the race with Nattavude, I enjoyed the races, I enjoyed the podium and I think it’s a good end to a lousy season for us, we needed that so we can start off next season in a good position.”
Further back Khun Aekarat claimed P6; he was less than a second ahead of his teammate Khun Kantasak, the pair running closely together for almost the entire race. Making it a 6-7-8 finish for the Singha A Motorsport Kiwi Racing Team was Khun Craig who put it back together after his spin to take his second P8 of the weekend.
Rounding out the top ten were Khun Shuipang, who scored his second helping of points of the weekend, and Khun Pete Thongchua, who wrapped up the list of classified finishers in the RZ Racing Mazda.
“I had a great time over the weekend, both races went great,” said Khun Shuipang afterwards. “I’m going quicker each time I go out there, the gap between me and the car in front is getting closer and closer and I’m already looking forward to the first race next year. I’m planning to get a few practices in before the first race, hopefully getting some professional help in the form of Darryl O’Young or Earl Bamber, they are great guys to be around and they surely know their way around the 911s.”
Aside from Khun Michael, Khun Nattapong, Khun Jakthong and Khun Traitanit the final DNF went to Khun Visarut who dropped out of the race with three laps remaining.