It’s been hot and, so far at least during the day, dry in Bangsaen and the action has been really sizzling too. For the first time ever the event started a day earlier than usual, on Tuesday, and the atmosphere has become more and more charged as the pace and the pressure has relentlessly mounted.
Yesterday saw a very long day of action on the track as the 9th Bangsaen Thailand Speed Festival continued to gather momentum – and after two days of free practice it was time for qualifying. It actually all kicked off at at the very early time of 0730 without the signature accompanying sound of racing engines as an FIA inspection was scheduled to examine the track as part of the organisers’ ongoing strategy to achieve FIA homologation.
Once that lap of the track – undertaken on foot by FIA Track Inspector Tim Schenken who was accompanied by Track Designer Khun Simon Gardini and the Bangsaen Thailand Speed Festival organizational team led by TSS President Sontaya Kunplome – had been completed it was down to the timed action and a full day of qualifying for all the core categories in the Thailand Super Series programme.
FIA track inspection yesterday morning.
In Super Car Class 1-GT3 there weren’t to be many surprises as Khun Tomáš Enge got the hammer straight down in the Camaro GT3 and planted the big black machine onto pole position. But keep a good look out for Khun Jack Lemvard as he’s driving a newly built ‘widebody’ Lamborghini Gallardo Extenso R-EX and once the car’s teething problems are sorted out he should be right on the pace.
All eyes were focused on Super Car Class 2-GTM though and the returning Khun Darryl O’Young picked up exactly where he left off last year by planting the B-Quik Porsche 997 GT3 Cup on pole position. There wasn’t much in it though and Khun Kantasak Kusiri will line up alongside him for the first race of the weekend this afternoon while the Singha Motorsport Team Thailand driver was handed a big extra boost as his championship rival Khun Craig Corliss will start the first race from the fifth row of the grid.
Behind Khun Darryl and Khun Kantasak will start the two Lamborghinis of Khun Jack and his Japanese teammate Khun Akihiro Asai. It’s certainly going to be explosive when the lights go green with both the pride of winning in Bangsaen and the championship title up for grabs.
In Super Car Class 3-GTC a very comfortable pole went to Khun Chayut Yangpichit in the TT Motorsport Mitsubishi Evo X while in Super 2000 Khun Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi bagged P1 but the two neck and neck Drivers’ championship contenders, Khun Jack (who will be racing in no less than three top categories this weekend) and Khun Pasarit Phromsombat will start alongside each other on Row 2.
In Super Pickup Khun Waris is on pole while in Super 1500 the two remaining championship contenders, Khun Nuttapong Lertlumprasertkul and Khun Kajornsak Na Songkhla, will start next to each other on the front row.
In Super Eco Khun Suphong Khamtonwong returned after missing the last round to claim pole while 15-year-old star-of-the-future Khun Kmik Karnasuta will start alongside him on the front row and in fact the three title contenders are all in the top four positions on the grid.
A superb day of qualifying thrills and spills means a dramatic weekend of racing action appears to be in store and in fact for Super Car Class 2-GTM it will all start this afternoon as for the first time there’s going to be three races this weekend, they’re scheduled for today, tomorrow and Sunday.
Qualifying: Super Car Class 1-GT3
There weren’t any surprises in Class 1-GT3. Combine the proven world-class talents of Khun Tomáš Enge with pretty much any leading GT3 car and you are going to have a combination that’s very difficult to beat. Put him in Reiter Vattana’s powerful Camaro, a car that he helped develop from scratch and knows inside out, and you have the pretty much the perfect ‘combo’.
Last year the Czech river raced to an impressive double victory here in the Camaro and there are very few signs so far that anyone can stop him making it four wins out of four straight races when the lights go green this weekend. Khun Tomáš’ best lap of the qualifying session, on his fifth and final lap, in 1:40.484, stood untroubled at the top of the timesheets and he has pole position wrapped up for the opening race on Saturday. And Sunday in fact, that’s four straight pole positions at Bangsaen in Class 1-GT3.
Khun Jack Lemvard turned in the second quickest time in Class 1-GT3 at the wheel of Reiter Vattana’s newest Lamborghini Gallardo Extenso R-EX, which is a full upgrade including engine made to one of their existing ‘FL2’ examples. The all-carbon finished machine had a few teething problems and required some new parts to be fitted overnight so Khun Jack wasn’t pushing the car too hard. Still, his best, in 1:42.843, was good enough to put him alongside Khun Tomáš and realistically he’s the only driver likely to challenge the muscular Camaro tomorrow afternoon.
Khun Narasak Ittritpong will lead out Row 2 after he posted a 1:45.488 in the team’s other ‘Extenso’. This week is his first time ever around the 3.7-km Bangsaen Street Circuit at the wheel of a GT3 car so it was very much a case of him getting used to the track with this particular car. Next to Khun Narasak will be the older Gallardo version of Khun Umar A. Rahman, but he had a crash in practice and without some of the right parts available he was unable to do anymore than a couple of laps in qualifying and currently is unsure whether he will be able to make the grid on Saturday.
Qualifying: Super Car Class 2-GTM
The Ferraris were fast out of the blocks at the start of this week and quickly setting the pace. The #1 and #34 Singha Motorsport Team Thailand Ferrari 458 Challenge machines were the first two cars out of the pitlane when unofficial Super Car practice kicked off on Tuesday morning, signaling that they really mean business this week and in Wednesday’s red flag hit official practice session Khun Kantasak Kusiri shrugged off the pressure of the title fight to post the fastest time in 1:43.344.
That was 9/10ths of a second more than the returning international superstar Khun Darryl O’Young managed to extract out of the #27 B-Quik Racing Porsche 997 GT3 Cup. Third went to the outgoing champion Khun Voravud Bhirombhakdi in the second Singha Ferrari to put both the team’s cars in the top three. He was however almost two seconds adrift of his teammate which demonstrated exactly how Khun Kantasak plans to win this title – from the front.
Khun Darryl, fresh from an impressive top ten finish in the FIA GT World Cup at Macau last weekend in his Craft Bamboo Aston Martin is certainly ‘street ready’ and so he quickly got on the pace, forcing himself to the front and after winning two poles out of two here last year the Hong Kong driver edged out the Ferraris and will start from P1 tomorrow, his third consecutive time in the top position on the Bangsaen Class 2-GTM grid. His best lap in 1:41.982, set on his seventh and final lap of the session, wasn’t beaten by anyone.
Khun Kantasak probably had his eyes a little elsewhere and while the glory of P1 in Bangsaen is one of the greatest lures in Thai motorsport, the youngster has to wrap up the Drivers’ title this weekend and with three races and a 2 point deficit to the top, it could go anyway.
If the team were updating him over the radio then they would have been reporting that his only serious rival for the crown, Khun Craig Corliss, was wallowing down in P12 on the provisional timesheets and that will have eased off a lot of the huge pressure. In the end Khun Kantasak’s best lap was just 6/10ths away from Khun Darryl, a superb performance and with Khun Craig languishing at the bottom of the top ten the #34 Ferrari can focus on points when the first race for Class 2-GTM gets underway this afternoon.
Row 2 will be led out by the fastest of the two Vattana Motorsport Lamborghinis, the #44 of Khun Jack Lemvard. However he had power steering problems on his Gallardo LP520, which certainly compromised his running and he finished 6/10ths away from Khun Kantasak.
Khun Voravud, with a lap of 1:43.967, nailed down P4 and that meant the two Singha Motorsport Team Thailand Ferraris were in the top four on the timesheets, an impressive performance from the team as well as from the outgoing champion who struggled early in the season but is now finding the impressive form that gave him that title. However Khun Voravud has a ten place grid penalty to apply that he picked up in Bira to be added to his time and that means he will be bumped down to the seventh row of the grid this afternoon.
The second row will thus be completed by Khun Akihiro Asai who posted a best time of 1:44.064 to make it both Vattana Motorsport entries on the second row of the grid. He was also sporting a white front spoiler on his red Gallardo LP520 following a bump in practice. Khun Nattavude Charoensukhawatana was next up and will kick off the third row in the fastest of the three factory-run Toyotas. His best lap in 1:44.281 was very respectable in the ageing ‘86’ and this is quite likely to be its last outing in factory hands as this previous Class 2-GTM title-winning machine is clearly now being eclipsed.
However you write Khun Nattavude off at your peril, he fast, canny, doesn’t make mistakes and give him an inch on a racetrack and he will take a mile. He was also in action in Macau last weekend so is another driver that is street ready. Certainly if the car is reliable he will be on the podium, just how far he can push his way up its steps is the big question.
Next up was Khun Sarun Sereethoranakul in the #55 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, who has looked quick all weekend but was lucky to be on track for the qualifying session after losing a drive belt beforehand. However he won’t be on the grid for the first race of the weekend thanks to an incident at the last round at Bira which has given him a one race start penalty although that pace should stand him in very good stead on Saturday and Sunday and that all means the #26 Audi R8 of B-Quik’s Khun Henk J. Kiks capitalizes and will complete the third row. The Dutchman turned in a neat and tidy qualifying session in a car that he needs to keep in tip-top shape as next Monday morning it will be loaded into a shipping container that’s standing by in the paddock and immediately trucked down to Malaysia to contest next month’s Sepang 12 Hours.
The two new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup machines that both raced in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia (PCCA) this year and only just arrived in Thailand at the end of last week were very evenly matched in qualifying and will start side by side. Khun Suttiluck Buncharoen got the edge with a best lap of 1:46.495 and will lead out the fourth row of the grid, his matte black MY2015 example, which he knows well having raced it in PCCA all season, is still in ‘Cup’ technical specification so there is certainly more to be extracted from it and this is really a weekend to bed the car into TSS.
Meanwhile Khun Aekarat Discharoen is driving the other new 911 GT3 Cup, which is in fact the machine used by Khun Sontaya Kunplome in PCCA this year. The A Motorsport owner quickly got to grips with the car although it only arrived three here days before the event and like Khun Suttiluck he hadn’t tested it in Thailand prior to Tuesday’s unofficial runs. However he posted at 1:45.805 best time on the opening day, which was the fifth quickest time, so clearly he was enjoying his new mount. Come the qualifying session and his best in 1:46.139 was good enough for P10, which becomes P8 on the grid thanks to the penalties dished out to Khun Voravud and Khun Sarun.
Khun Bhurit Bhirombhakdi will lead out the fifth row in the third of the four Ferrari 458 Challenge machines on the entry list. He was somewhat in the wars during the practice sessions and the car needed a new front end but the team worked late into Wednesday night to get the car ready for qualifying and he planted it in a respectable P11 on the timesheeets during the session.
To find the Drivers’ championship leader, Khun Craig Corliss, down in P12 on the timing screens after managing just a 1:51.012 best lap was something of a surprise and clearly the New Zealander now has a huge amount of work to do if he is to get back into the title fight. Khun Craig reported that while he had gained time elsewhere compared to last year he was losing that advantage wrestling the big Holden V8 round the hairpin and that the new chicane layout also wasn’t suiting the car while the standard locked diff was also costing time. He makes up a couple of extra places on the final grid for the first race though and will wrap up the fifth row.
Behind him comes the second factory Toyota of Khun Nattapong Horthongkum who didn’t have an especially good session while wrapping up the sixth row will be Khun Pinet Piyaoui who is debuting a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup in Class 2-GTM this weekend and was busy getting used to the car around Bangsaen. The seventh row will be led out by Khun Voravud thanks to his 10 place penalty while alongside him will be the #60 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup of Khun Shuipang Kanjanapas who set a personal best time yesterday and clearly has improved his pace a lot this year. Khun Paul is certainly benefiting from the additional coaching he is receiving here from Khun Will Bamber, the younger brother of 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours overall winner Khun Earl, while the third factory Toyota 86 entry of Khun Manat Kulapalanont, the lower ‘spec’ car, next up.
Khun Traitanit Chimtawan in the NSports run Nissan GTR has a real mountain to climb. The car, dubbed ‘Godzilla’ by the fans, has been thoroughly rebuilt and converted from four to two wheel drive since it last graced the grid, here a year ago. That’s seen fundamental changes being made throughout the car and it’s been a race against time for the team to get it all bolted together again.
They completely missed Tuesday’s unofficial running and in Wednesday’s practice session the car only completed a couple of installation laps before a broken sensor saw it coast to a halt and return to the pits on the back of a recovery truck. It was the same story in qualifying as Khun Traitanit managed just a single lap before retiring with a broken driveshaft and so he will start down on the eighth row alongside Khun Manat.
The final place on the grid will go to Khun Thamrong Mahadumrongkul in his new #24 Ferrari 458 Challenge. The Super 2000 star squeezed in a few laps of the track during one of the Tuesday afternoon practice sessions but business commitments forced him to miss yesterday’s qualifying session. With just a few laps around Bira Circuit in the car during the last TSS round Khun Thamrong has to continue to get to grips with the Ferrari and learn to use it effectively at Bangsaen so the three races will be really be a no pressure extended test session. Lastly, while the striking gold liveried #90 Porsche 991 GT3 Cup of Khun Pitsanu Sirimongkolkasem is on display in the paddock the driver himself is absent and is currently recovering from a sports injury. TSS extends our very best wishes to Khun Pitsanu and we hope you get better quickly and we look forward to seeing you back on the grid in 2016.
Qualifying: Super Car Class 3-GTC
There was a little bit of a surprise at the top of the timesheets when the Class 3-GTC qualifying session had finished. There was a Mitsubishi Evo X in P1, that was certainly expected, what was less so was that it was the #29 of Khun Chayut Yangpichit and not the #10 of champion-elect Khun Grant Suphong.
Khun Chayut took a win with this car last year at Buriram, albeit a somewhat lucky victory, and it’s looked good for the podium this year, although he missed the last round at Bira. Now though it looks honed to be a winner and the TT Motorsport owner’s best time of 1:50.764 was a massive 4.8 seconds clear of Khun Grant who made it an all ‘Evo’ front row of the grid despite suffering a major engine problem after just a couple of laps of the session. Khun Chayut later reported that new settings had helped and also new camshafts fitted since the car’s last appearance in TSS had added a couple of dozen extra horses.
Khun Daychapon headed the timesheets early in the session before Khun Grant tipped him out of P1 after 6 minutes with his first flyer. Khun Chayut banged in his best time halfway through the session and it stayed that way to the end.
That means Khun Grant will start at the back of the grid due to an engine change and so Khun Thanapol Thongchua who put in another fine performance in the #17 Mazda RX-8 will start on the front row alongside Khun Chayut. That’s going to be the first time ever that ‘rotary’ power has started on the first row of the grid in Super Car and Khun Pete can certainly expect to keep his recent run of podium finishes up when the first Class 3-GTC race of the weekend kicks off on Saturday afternoon and he will be hoping that he can convert that into a first ever Super Car win for Mazda.
Leading out Row 2 will be will be Khun Grant’s Krating Daeng teammate, Khun Daychapon Toyingcharoen, in the team’s #9 Nissan Skyline R32, the drift star turned circuit racer had led the timesheets early in the session.
Then comes the factory-run #19 Toyota 86 of Khun Suttipong Smittachartch, his 2:00.747 best laptime was good enough for Row 2 while a great session from Khun Kraingkrai Woraratanatham in the A Motorsport-run Subaru BRZ saw him next up after his best qualifying performance yet. However Khun Kraingkrai was hit by a tyre marking penalty post session and will start from the back.
The last representative lap time, in 2:05.217, was set by Khun Narin Yensuk, the experienced Chang Mai driver back in the hot seat of Rotary Revolution’s new ‘pink’ #13 Mazda RX-7 GT-S for a second consecutive race and he will lead out Row 3 to give the team both cars in the top five on the grid.
The Ginetta G55 of Khun Naputt Assakul brought out the red flags after just under 3 minutes of the session had been completed after suffering brake problems and he will line up P6 tomorrow one place ahead of Khun Sontaya Kunplome whose major organization commitments to the event precluded him from joining in the qualifying session. However he got cockpit time in the #8 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup during Thursday’s practice session so should be ‘race ready’ when the lights go green tomorrow.
Qualifying: Super 2000
The Super 2000 drivers started slugging it out for P1 as soon as the lights at the end of the pitlane for the 20 minute qualifying session changed colour and it was non stop action until the end apart from a red flag stoppage after 6 minutes to tow in the stricken Honda Civic FDs of Khun Narasak Ittritpong and Issares Chirapongsananurak.
The early leader of the timesheets was Khun Munkong Sathienthirakul but Khun Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi soon asserted himself at the top and he posted a lap of 1:53.462, which no one could match the black and red #21 Civic staying out front as the final minutes of the session ticked down. Khun Munkong kept hold of P2 as well as Class B pole and he was three tenths adrift in the end to make it all all-Civic FD front row for the first race.
While the front row will be all about the glory of winning here in Bangsaen, the second row will be all about the destiny of the championship and here it’s on a knife-edge. Khun Jack Lemvard has a 10 point cushion over Khun Pasarit Phromsombat in the standings and the latter edged P3 by just 3/10ths of a second. It was that close. Khun Pasarit has been pushing hard all week, determined to make a run at the title and he drew first blood by putting himself in position to the better line up to Turn 1, it’s going to be furious stuff from Row 2 tomorrow afternoon. Khun Jack meanwhile reported the #44 BMW E90 was running fine but there was little more he could extract from it.
And if the front two rows are set to be explosive, right behind them come two of the hardest chargers in the Super 2000 field, Khun Kittipol Pramoj Na Ayudhya and Khun Chayut Yangpichit. The former ‘warmed up’ for the qualifying session with two laps of the circuit on foot just as the sun was coming up and that seemed to set him up well as he banged in the P5 time in the #25 Civic FD, just two tenths off the BMW in front, while that also gave him P2 in Class B. Khun Chayut, meanwhile, is as streetwise as they come but his Honda DC5 was just over two seconds back from Khun Kittipol so he will have work to do to get the car’s pace further improved for the race.
The fourth row will feature another hard charger Khun Jakthong Navasoopanich (#3 Toyota Altis) who didn’t seem to suffer too many effects after having required an overnight engine change due to a valve problem, and then Khun Wijak Lertprasertpakorn, who had a very good session in the #26 Civic FD. The top ten was wrapped up by a couple more fighters, Hong Kong driver Khun Rudolf Yu and Khun Phatwit Phayakcso, although the latter will required an engine change and moves to the back of the grid.
In P11 was Khun Ekprawat Petcharak and he won’t be happy with his time and will be looking to push his way up the order very quickly and due to Khun Phatwit’s penalty he will make up one place on the grid and start from P10. Khun Ekprawat made a mistake on his first flying lap and narrowly avoided the guardrails at the S2 Bangsaen hairpin and then was caught in traffic and caution flags periods. He reported that the car was fine apart from the midrange power not being too smooth. The first factory-entered Toyota Altis machine, the #58 of Khun Chen Jian Hong, will line up in P11 while the Taiwanese driver’s rookie teammate Khun Pure Hongsapan had a good session and was next up in P12 to lead out Class C. Khun Artit Masathirakul then kicks off the seventh row.
Khun Vasu Saksirivetkul, who is second in Class C, was also another driver to be lapping the 3.7 km track on foot in the early hours of the morning and he will complete the seventh row. He reported gear problems that turned qualifying into something of a practice session, however Khun Vasu is confident he’s got to grips with the track and will be able to up his pace in the races. Then comes Class C championship points’ leader Khun Jetsada Yangpichit who will lead out the eighth row.
Khun Wijak’s teammate Khun Nattachak Hanjitkasem is next in P16 and then comes Khun Thanupat Lerttaweetvit who saw his session cut short and only completed 5 laps but that was still good enough for P17 overall and P4 in Class C although his #54 Civic FD returned to the paddock after the session was over on the back of a recovery truck.
Khun Poramin Meesamanyont (Honda DC5), Khun David Yupensuk (Toyota Altezza) and the two very early retirements from the session, Khun Narasak and Khun Issares, neither of whom had the chance to set a representative time are next up.
Finally one of the top favourites for this race, Khun Kantadhee Kusiri, the double winner of the last round at Bira, suffered a loss of engine power halfway round his first qualifying lap and was forced to immediately pit and a cylinder problem was diagnosed. His Team Eakie Toyota 86 will require a new engine and Khun Kantadhee will thus start from the back of the grid. He has a bit less time on the circuit this year too as a broken track control arm in practice saw that session cut short.
Qualifying: Super Pickup
Khun Waris Onyarab hasn’t had the most rewarding of years in Super Pickup so far but he always goes very well on the streets of Bangsaen and in yesterday’s qualifying session it was no different as he thumped in a 2:02.748 best lap that planted his blue Isuzu D-Max firmly on pole position.
Second fastest time, half a second back, went to Khun Songsak Kornsirisuepsakun and that helps his championship chances no end, although in reality the title is basically a formality. A further seven tenths back was Khun Aekaluck Nakkerd, who also claimed Class B pole, while Khun Jaras Jaengkamolkulchai completes the second row of the grid. The third row will comprise of Khun Nuttapon Namjuk, who is second in the Class B standings, and Khun Johnny Massoud, who bagged Class C pole in an excellent result as this is the Australia’s first time to be racing at Bangsaen.
Qualifying: Super 1500
Khun Nuttapong Lertlumprasertkul and Khun Kajornsak Na Songkhla came to Bangsaen locked into a duel for the Drivers’ title and just five points separate them. The pair continued that neck-to-neck running during qualifying session and will start alongside each other on the front row. First blood though has gone to Khun Nuttapong who turned in a best lap of 2:03.361. That was 1.679 seconds clear of his rival so clearly the #104 Ford Fiesta driver has some work still to do to find more speed for the weekend.
Khun Kajornsak will also have to watch out as he’s locked in the middle of a green Honda ‘sandwich’ as Khun Nuttapong’s brother, Khun Komkrit, set the third fastest time and was only a couple of hundredths of a second back from the Fiesta. Khun Isara Limthanetkul had a good qualifying to complete the second row while the third row sees the top two drivers in Class C side-by-side, Khun U-tain Pongprapas getting the nod over champion elect Khun Teerasak Sakphaet. Khun Naratip Kerdchuay and Khun Chanapol Choochavalit will share the fourth row and complete the overall top eight on the grid.
Qualifying: Super Production
After establishing himself as a top runner in Super 1500 over recent years, Khun Anon Rodprasert hasn’t had the best of times this year on his switch to Super Production. It’s all been a bit up and down and although he bagged a win in Buriram the mixed weather conditions that his team called exactly right helped him cruise away into the distance.
However this is a naturally quick driver and Khun Anon clearly intends to end the season on a high note – and he set about doing just that in qualifying by planting the #18 TT Motorsport Honda City on pole position with a best lap of 2:03.050 that put him a full 1.124 seconds clear of his closest rival. That also gave him Class B pole. After missing the last round at Bira Khun Thomas Raldorf was back in action and he claimed P2 with a 2:04.174 best lap to make it an all Honda City front row of the grid.
Then came Khun Chattraphol Jiemvijid in the RMI Honda Jazz, half a second behind the Dane. That was a very significant time in terms of the championship, which is ending with a three-way fight. Khun Jiemvijid has scored well all year, six podiums from six races, and currently holds the runners up spot with 67 points, that’s 8 points adrift of Khun Yotsarun Sansuk (75 points) and 5 points ahead of Khun Settasit Boonyakiat (62 points).
However that classification order has been shaken up for the first race at least as Khun Chattraphol is P3 while Khun Settasit will start from sixth and the overall championship leader, Khun Yotsarun, who has three wins and a runners up spot from the four races he’s entered so far this year will, a little surprisingly, start tomorrow’s race from down in eighth place.
Alongside Khun Chattraphol on Row 2 will be Khun Thanasit Bhunyatharanonth who led the overall championship standings early in the year but eventually faded away. He will want to end the year on a high note in the #39 Tein Racing Jazz.
Fifth fastest time was set by Khun Sirisak Manthugumphol who was a tenth behind Khun Thanasit and two tenths ahead of Khun Settasit in P6. Between the championship hopefuls, Khun Settasit and Khun Yotsarun, is the outgoing Super Eco champion Khun Poomee Phromatham who has graduated this year with a new shape Jazz GK.
Khun Tony Percy and Khun Anusorn Asiralertsiri, who leads out the Class C runners, complete the overall top ten on the grid. The sixth row is made up of Khun Pong Trakulthong and Khun Ray MacDonald, who are P2 and P3 in Class C, while the seventh row is led out by Khun Nattanid Leewattanavaragul who was fourth quickest in Class C – but significantly the young lady driver just needs a couple of championship points to put the title out of reach.
Khun Passakron Yamgathom completes the seventh row while a little further back the two factory-supported turbodiesel-powered Mazda2 entries of Khun Michael Freeman and Khun Tachapan Vijittranon, the latter who had a bump during Wednesday’s practice session, will start side-by-side on the tenth row of the grid.
Qualifying: Super Eco
The little ‘Eco’ cars kicked off official qualifying here shortly before 1100 and the three main title contenders traded fastest times all session meaning the championship is likely to head all the way to a nail-biting conclusion on Sunday morning.
The main title contenders, Khun Konpichit Toyingcharoen (71 points), Khun Jakraphan Davee (66 points) and Khun Suphong Khamtonwong (61 points) came into the weekend separated by just 10 points and with a total of 40 on offer here.
When the clocks stopped after 20 minutes of qualifying that trio had locked out three of the top four spots with the other slot going to Khun Kmik Karnasuta who isn’t quite out of the title fight either, the ‘wonderkid’ is only 18 points off the top and this is a treacherous street circuit that can deliver zero points scores to anyone at any moment.
Khun Suphong dominated the first half of the Super Eco season but missed the Bira round and that pushed him backwards in the standings to third place, 10 points off the top. He brushed off any rustiness to bang in the pole time and resume the momentum that he enjoyed before. His best lap in 2:11.123 was unbeaten and he really thrashed his rivals in qualifying to claim P1 by a margin of 1.8 seconds. He will thus start his task of clawing back the deficit in the first race of the weekend, which takes place tomorrow morning, from the best possible location, pole position. He looks very strong and is the clear favourite for victory.
Alongside him on the front row will be 15-year-old Khun Kmik while Row 2 will see the top two in the championship line up side-by-side, Khun Konpichit leading out Khun Jakraphan. They set times within a tenth of a second of each other and it means that the Eco race is likely to be explosive tomorrow as the top four drivers all need to score high and chip points out of their rivals.