The top two Super Car classes certainly grab the biggest headlines but the secret of Thailand Super Series (TSS) is its sheer strength in depth and slotting into the Super Car ‘tree’ this year has been the new Super Car Class 3-GTC category; it’s already attracting strength and diversity, while Super 2000 continues to reinforce its long standing reputation for the closest bumper-to-bumper action to be found in South East Asia.
From its birth at the last round at Bira Circuit, Super Car Class 3-GTC continues to grow in stature. The concept is to provide a ‘feeder’ into the top two Super Car classes for ambitious drivers as well a platform for high performance racing machines that fall below the Super Car Class 2-GTM threshold.
The grid continued to grow at Buriram for the third and fourth races of the year – familiar name drivers turned up as well as new racecars. The sleek little Ginetta G55 certainly stood out, as did the new Toyota 86 that the factory team has just built especially to run in the new category. Ferrari also put its name into the Class 3-GTC records books, thanks to an overdue victory for Japanese driver Khun Akihiro Asai, while in the other race there was a debut win for Khun Chayut Yangpichit.
Super 2000 meanwhile reaffirmed its bold reputation for providing the best bumper-to-bumper racing action in South East Asia, and the two races threw up a real plethora of starring names. There was a first win for Japanese driver Khun Hideharu Kuroki while reigning champion Khun Tin Sritrai nabbed the other victory and that’s helped him close right in on retaining his title.
Super Car Class 3-GTC: Saturday
There was a debut win for Khun Chayut Yangpichit in the first Super Car Class 3-GTC race of the weekend. He was driving a newly acquired Mitsubishi Evo X and he completed the 12-lap race in 22:34.428, which put him right at the top of the final classification. It was an impressive performance especially as Khun Chayut was in fact driving a former ‘rally’ bred Evo X, which had been shipped over to Thailand by Cusco for a gymkhana event and that had made it available for a toe dip in the new Super Car category. He reported that racetrack modifications had centered mainly on the suspension so it was nowhere near the finished article.
While Khun Chayut was certainly a new name to add to the list of winners in the new class, there was however machinery continuity in P1 as this race represented the third straight win for Mitsubishi’s Evo X in Super Car Class 3-GTC, following Khun Grant Supaphong’s victories the first two races of the season held at Bira Circuit in July.
Second place went to Khun Daychapon Toyingcharoen in the Krating Daeng Nissan Skyline R32 and his runner up spot in fact made it three in the row (he had claimed two second places at the opening round) and with championship points leader Khun Grant Supaphong suffering mechanical problems it helped the drifting star close down the deficit overnight with still one more race to go.
Third place went to Khun Sontaya Kunplome in his regular Porsche 997 GT3 Cup; he’s switched away from Class 2-GTM this year and that was his best result to date in the new category, while it also gave him the edge over Khun Suttipong Smittachartch who was fourth. Since the last round of the series the Toyota Team Manager has built up an 86 especially for Class 3-GTC and the brand new car’s debut went very well. Khun Suttipong says that his entry is “just for fun” but it does mean Toyota Team Thailand is now fully represented in all three of the Super Car classes. It also means an end to the racing life of the factory’s former Super Car Championship winning Altis, which enjoyed its final competitive race when Khun Suttipong drove the turbocharged machine during the first Class 3-GTC round of the year.
In fifth place, albeit two laps down, came the Mitsubishi Evo X of Khun Grant. Starting from the front row he had been widely expected to bag the biggest slice of points on offer and to extend his championship advantage further – but it simply didn’t work out like that. “After the start I have some problem with the turbo boost because a turbo pipe is leaking and then after three laps the car starts to shake and after that I get a front right tyre flat,” he explained. “I come back to the pit and change the tyre again and go out and the tyre went flat again so I had to come to the pit again so I think the tyre has a problem.”
Khun Grant was the championship leader coming into this round but car problems meant his 10 point cushion at the top of the classification was whittled down to 7 points at the end of the first race of the weekend thanks to his main title rival, Khun Daychapon, finishing in second place. Either way though the Drivers’ title is destined to be awarded to a driver from the Krating Daeng Racing Team.
The race’s only DNF went to Khun Naputt Assakul in the Ginetta G55, which was making its racing debut in Thailand. The British sports car brand was being seen in action for the first time ever here, although Khun Naputt drove the car in last year’s TSS season opener at Malaysia’s Sepang Circuit. So he’s been out of this cockpit for a long time and the car itself doesn’t boast much power, 316 horses in fact were registered when it went on the dyno recently.
Despite all that Khun Naputt planted the little car on pole position with a 2:00.534 best lap and that was a whopping 3.613 seconds quicker than the next best driver, Khun Grant, could manage, as well as 8.732 seconds quicker than Khun Daychapon registered to lead out the second row. So the car looks to have a very promising future in store.
Khun Naputt retained his advantage at the front as the pack streamed through Turn 1 following the green lights. However it all very quickly went wrong and after a first lap spin, just as he set about recovering the lost places, the car ground to a halt.
“I had a good start but I snapped my driveshaft after Turn 1 on the second time round, that was it, not much I could do,” Khun Naputt said afterwards. “I spun once on the first lap as my tyres were too cold and I pushed it too hard on the first lap, because I know I’m underpowered so I know the only place I can make it up is in the corners, so I pushed really hard.” Still it was pleasing to see this driver back in Super Car for the first time this year and the Ginetta makes a welcome addition to the growing diversification of Class 3-GTC so both driver and team were upbeat.
Khun Akihiro Asai was having a tough weekend. Driving the Ferrari 430 Challenge for a second event in succession the Italian sportscar has now had its colour changed from yellow to a more traditional ‘Rosso Corsa’ finish.
The Japanese driver went fastest in qualifying but his times were later disallowed and from the back of the grid he nursed the car all the way to P1 only to be excluded post race for a technical infringement. It’s providing a difficult year for Khun Akihiro, the 2011 Super Car N/A champion, but he still had one race to go to try to get a consolation prize.
Super 2000: Saturday
There was a new wining name in Super 2000, Khun Hideharu Kuroki, and it was a win that was seemingly always going to happen at some point. The Japanese driver, who is hugely experienced in the field of touring car racing, joined Super 2000 during the last round and on that occasion he was the only pilot to offer any pressure at all to the superior Vattana Motorsport BMW E90 of Khun Jack Lemvard.
In Buriram though Khun Jack was absent, running in Super Car Class 1-GT3, but instead of the black Vattana BMW Khun Hideharu’s Honda DC5 would face pressure from the white PTT-supported example of Khun Tin Sritrai, the reigning Super 2000 champion and current championship points leader. Khun Kuroki soaked up the pressure over the 12-lap race and Khun Tin had to work hard to make his way past during the dying laps of the race and there was contact between the two cars when the move was made. The stewards though later added a 5 second penalty onto Khun Tin’s race time for that pass and that dropped him to P3, such was the close finish of the top three.
That handed Khun Kuroki his first win in Super 2000, after a tough race that had gone all the way to the flag before being decided. “I’m very happy,” he simply said afterwards. The Buriram victory also marked the first win in TSS for Kuroki Racing, a successful Japanese team with a quarter of a century’s experience in racing. In the end Khun Kuroki was just 2.420 seconds in front of Khun Chayut Yangpichit who had his best run of the year so far in the Singha Cosmo TT Motorsport Honda DC5. In fact it would be an excellent afternoon’s work in the cockpit for Khun Chayut as he would follow up that Super 2000 runners up spot with victory in the following Super Car Class 3-GTC race. It also gave Honda’s DC5 a 1-2 finish, a bounce back to prominence for a car that was once a regular winner in this level of Thai racing but which has faded away from the limelight during recent seasons.
After his 5-second penalty was added Khun Tin dropped to P3 and that put him just five hundredths of a second behind Khun Chayut, meaning the top three finishers were covered by only 2.476 seconds. Khun Hideharu and Khun Chayut aren’t in the overall title fight so that result helped to extend Khun Tin’s lead at the top of the standings. The BMW driver also posted the fastest lap of the race in 1:51.727 and after his terrible weekend at Bira last time out it was the perfect way to bounce back and lay further claim to the 2014 title.
So a very decent afternoon for Khun Tin, especially as he suffered grip problems in the slippery conditions. “In the wet I cannot drive, the rear wheel slides all the time,” he said. “The beginning of the race is wet and then the middle of the race it’s dry and my best lap is the last lap. I can overtake Kuroki in the last lap but I touch him a little bit so I have [a] penalty of 5 seconds, but that’s racing. I’m happy because [of] the championship points [and] I’m still leading so I will try my best tomorrow and in Bangsaen.”
One of the emerging stars of the season is Khun Kittipol Pramoj Na Ayudhya, he’s on a real roll in arguably the toughest of the three sub-categories that make up Super 2000 – Class B. But he’s not reading the script too well and is also muscling his way onto the overall podium. It was the same story in the first race as he swept to Class B victory with 10 seconds in hand of Khun Pitsanu Sirimongkolkasem, but that excellent performance also put him P3 overall, just 15.412 seconds adrift of the winner. Another superb drive, his second straight class win in fact, and one that is starting to swing the Class B title fight momentum in his direction.
But Khun Kittipol wont have an easy run if he wants the Class B crown as Khun Pitsanu was next up, fifth overall and runner up in class. His #90 Civic FD was running much better than had been the case in practice and qualifying as his team ironed out engine upgrade issues. “We’ve sorted [the car] a little bit but better than yesterday and I started from eleventh place and during the race I was getting better and better and finally I got fifth overall and in my class I got second place,” he said afterwards. “The race was really fun but for me the rain on this course isn’t my specialty, [I] need some time to get used to it, I need to improve more.”
Sixth went to Khun Kantadhee Kusiri in the Singha XO Team Eakie Toyota Altezza, he was suffering engine problems again – that’s been a season long story – but drove very well all afternoon in the circumstances. Seventh overall and third in Class B went to Khun Thamrong Mahadumrongkul in the second Singha Cosmo TT Motorsport Civic FD. That was a real fighting drive as he lost sixth gear and the car was down on overall power. In fact his teammate Khun Kittipol had jumped in Khun Thamrong’s #24 Civic FD during the free practice sessions and found it to be six seconds a lap slower than his #25 example.
Eighth place went to Khun Manat Kulapalanont in the #37 factory-run Toyota 86; he was 5 seconds further down the road but lost time after sliding off the track at Turn 3 on the first lap. “The car is good,” he reported afterwards and was looking forward to Sunday.
Next on the road came the Khun Rudolf Yu who enjoyed real success on his second race in Super 2000 as he won Class C. The Hong Kong driver is steadily marking himself out as one to watch out for, smooth and unfussy he steered clear of trouble, and that combination saw him moving up the order.
The top ten was wrapped up by Khun Yoshiaki Inoue in the second Kuroki ATP Tein Racing Honda DC5. The rest of the classified finishers were made up of Khun Wijak Lertprasertpakorn (TBN MK IHere Racing Team Civic FD) and Khun Paritat Bulbon (VW Golf), who claimed the final steps of the Class B podium, Khun Artit Ruengsomboom, who suffered mechanical issues but still kept the #9 Altis on the road to take P2 in Class C, and finally Khun Nattachak Hanjitkasem in the second TBN MK IHere Racing Team Civic FD.
The retirement list was led out by Khun Chen Jian Hong in the #58 factory Altis, he dropped out with three laps to go after again showing plenty of pace in the new generation model while it was running smoothly. Khun Munkong Sathienthirakul departed on lap 8 in the #11 Honda S2000, Khun Bhisanu Bhusitarnuntakul retired after 5 laps in the #32 Toyota, Khun Apichai Pankongchuen (#42 Honda DC5) and Khun Jakthong Navasoopanich (# Altis) both retired on lap 4, the latter with engine problems, while the final two DNFs went to Khun Supachai Weeraborwornpong (#71 DC5) and Khun Carlo Van Dam who broke a driveshaft on the warm up lap. After losing sixth gear in qualifying the Dutch star driving the Singha Motorsport Team Thailand Civic FD2 for a second event in succession was out at the start, again he was having a tough start to the weekend.
Super Car Class 3-GTC: Sunday
Pole sitter Khun Naputt dropped to the back of the pack after a slow getaway from the green lights in the little Ginetta while Khun Grant quickly stretched the muscular legs of his Evo X to pull away from team mate Khun Daychapon as the two Krating Daeng Racing Team by NSports cars both opened out gaps at the front. Not for long though and, just like the previous day’s race, Khun Grant soon dived into the pits while his teammate would also drop out at halfway distance.
Khun Akihiro, who started from the back of the grid for the second day running, made up places on almost every lap and by the time the race headed into the closing stages the Japanese driver had worked his way into the lead and was pulling away from yesterday’s race winner Khun Chayut who had also pushed up the order.
In fact by the end of the 12 laps Khun Akihiro had eked out an 8.225 second cushion at the front despite having to carefully manage the red Ferrari which was also proving uncomfortable to drive. This driver has had a tough couple of years in Super Car ever since his last gasp title win in 2011 and his trip to the top step on Sunday afternoon was much to the great delight of both the paddock regulars and fans in the grandstand.
As ever Khun Akihiro was forced to work hard for his win, as he explained after the podium celebrations. “There was a little bit confusion at the start as the pole guy didn’t go but I had an okay start but it wasn’t very easy as this car had a temperature problem,” he said “As soon as the race started I had a temperature problem both on water and oil so I have to save the engine and also it was lacking power so I really had to drive it carefully.
“But I took them one by one and some cars have problems,” he continued. “Because of the temperature problem we made some modifications to the radiator and the air inlet and inside the car was unbelievably hot and the pedal was cooking so it’s wasn’t very easy, it was a very tough race. It may have looked very easy but it was really tough.
“And going to the scales I had my heart beating,” he added, with a mixture of laughter and relief. “I’m happy that I finally won.” So was everyone else. It was also nice to see the Vattana Unity Motorsport run Ferrari 430 Challenge add the evocative ‘Prancing Horse’ name to the list of winners in the inaugural year of Class 3-GTC, breaking up a lockout since the category launched in July at Bira by Mitsubishi’s Evo X. Khun Akihiro also banged in the fastest lap of the race in 1:50.867 on lap 3.
Khun Chayut wrapped up an excellent debut weekend in Class 3-GTC with the runners up spot to add to his win the day before. “The car is just fine, just a lack of power and the brake is too small, not big enough,” Khun Chayut said afterwards. “So I try to look after everything, try to be fast but careful. For Sunday we reset the car, tuned it a little bit better. I’m quite happy, but the Evo is not as fast as the Ferrari.”
A regular driver in Super 2000 in recent years, Khun Chayut thoroughly enjoyed his first experience in Class 3-GTC and although this was planned as a one off event and he has no plans to race at Bangsaen he however promises to be back in the category next year. “I won’t race the Evo in Bangsaen,” he explains. “We will ship the car back [to Japan] in January and I’m afraid of any accident damage [in Bangsaen].” The car in fact is an ex-rally machine that belongs to Cusco Japan and was sent to Thailand to participate in a gymkhana event before being tweaked to join the grid in Buriram.
Khun Chayut is as yet undecided on what car he will choose for next year. “I will enter Class 3 but I want the organiser to finish with the regulations for next year and I need to see the suspension regulations and whether I use and Evo or another car, hopefully it [will be] decided by Bangsaen, but now I wait for the regulations.”
In the cockpit of the red #6 Ginetta Khun Naputt was caught off guard by the green lights and dropped down the pack. However he fought his way back through the midfield order to eventually to move into third place, not an easy task as the car was giving away raw straight line speed to its rivals and in fact he was struggling with extra power problems in this race. So it was certainly pleasing to see the Painkiller Racing driver nab a podium step.
“I made a silly mistake, I forgot the light, I thought it was going to go green and I was waiting and then I saw the entire field go by, I make a rookie mistake,” Khun Naputt said afterwards. “It took me the whole time just to catch up. I think there is something wrong with my engine today, it doesn’t rev, basically I can only get up to fifth gear as my rpm won’t get up there quickly enough. So I was more managing in the corners than on the power which I don’t have to begin with.”
However Khun Naputt, a gentleman driver who continues to impress with his ability, was very pleased with his Class 3-GTC debut. “I’m happy to be on the podium, yes, very much so,” he said. Now he’s looking forward to getting the Ginetta onto the streets for the first time during the season closer next month. “Yes, for sure, I’m looking forward to it and I’m hoping for a better result in Bangsaen.” Khun Naputt was 50.147 seconds back at the flag.
Half a minute further behind the red Ginetta came Khun Suttipong and Khun Sontaya. These highly experienced racers spent the entire 12 laps battling ferociously with each other – a seemingly reoccurring tradition whenever they get on a track together. In the end the gap was just seven tenths of a second at the line. For the Toyota driver it was a very pleasing debut race for the brand new 86 he’s built especially for Class 3-GTC as he finished both outings on the podium.
After his comfortable double win at Bira absolutely nothing went right for Khun Grant this weekend and for the second race on the trot he headed for the pits, eventually finishing one lap down in sixth place. Crucially though Khun Daychapon, who had closed the Evo driver’s advantage in the championship down to 7 points overnight, dropped out at half distance and that meant Khun Grant, who picked up 10 points as the two drivers finishing in front of him aren’t registered to score points, moves 17 points clear at the top with one round and two races now remaining. After a torrid weekend he still sees his advantage strengthened and he will go into Bangsaen as the clear favourite to nail down the inaugural Class 3-GTC title.
The Super Car Class 3-GTC championship classification after four races (with two more still remaining to be contested in Bangsaen next month) continues to see Khun Grant sitting at the top; he’s now moved on 132 points. Meanwhile his only serious rival for the crown, Khun Daychapon, is second and he’s resting on 115 points.
Khun Narin Yensuk, who missed this round, has 64 points, while the next three positions in the classification go to a trio of drivers that all hauled themselves into the points reckoning for the first time in Buriram: Khun Akihiro (60 points), Khun Chayut (55 points) and Khun Naputt (32 points).
Super 2000: Sunday
The rules call for the top five finishers from the opening race to be reversed on the grid for the second race and that meant Khun Pitsanu would start from pole position with Khun Kittipol alongside to make it an all Class B front row. Championship leader Khun Tin would start on the outside of Row 2 while the winner the previous day, Khun Hideharu, would lead out Row 3.
Khun Pitsanu led the pack away at the green lights but he would pull off half way round the first lap, his race prematurely over. “The throttle body screw came lose and it made the car [run at] full throttle all the time,” he explained afterwards. “I cannot do anything except cut the power off. So that was the end for me in that race.”
Khun Tin, reveling in the rear wheel drive traction of the BMW in Sunday’s dry conditions, powered away into the lead and that would be the last anyone would see of him all afternoon as he romped off into the distance to eventually cross the finish line after 12 laps with more than half a minute in hand. That performance means Khun Tin has stretched his cushion at the top to 30 points with two races still to run and he has thus virtually put the title to bed. It’s almost a formality that he will wrap up his second consecutive Super 2000 crown on the streets on Bangsaen next month.
Starting from P2 Khun Kittipol tucked in behind Khun Tin to run second early on and he would go on to finish runner up, a sensational result for a driver who is really growing in ability and now turning his skills into excellent results.
Khun Kittipol was eventually deposed from second place by pro star Khun Carlo, but the sister Civic FD would drop out with a puncture while even more significant than his overall result, Khun Kittipol won Class B and with points leader Khun Pitsanu scoring no points from the final race the Singha Cosmo TT Motorsport driver now has the gap down to 12 points and has certainly set himself up to mount a serious challenge for the title in Bangsaen.
Khun Pitsanu can certainly follow him closely home in the two street races to claim the Class B title but any further car mechanical issues, slip ups or potential incidents for the black #90 machine and Khun Kittipol will be perfectly poised to capitalise. The stage is all set for an enthralling finale.
That Sunday success was in fact Khun Kittipol’s third straight Class B victory as he also won the second race at Bira back in July and if he hadn’t been docked his points from the season opener in Sepang after an inadvertent technical error by the team he would now be pulling away in the title fight.
An impressive third overall as well as first in Class C went to Khun Rudolf. In just his second race weekend in Super 2000 he bagged the class victory as well as a trip to the overall podium. The Hong Kong driver steered clear of trouble in a race that saw a high attrition rate and after gaining early ground he maintained a fast rhythm to ensure he was well positioned to capitalise as the closing laps unfolded.
“It was a very fun race,” Khun Rudolf said. “Basically I drove relatively safely, the start wasn’t as good as I wanted but in the end the car felt really good and the cars in front of me started breaking down and I was able to proceed forward.” Now he’s casting an eye towards the season closer. “I’m looking forward to [Bangsaen], very much so, it will be my third time there.”
Two straight Class C wins moves him into third place in the championship standings and just 7 points away from P2 meaning a similar run in Bangsaen could even net him the runners up spot in the Class C championship. It was thus an excellent result for the Painkiller Racing driver’ but it was so close at the line, he was just four tenths ahead of Khun Hideharu who slowed at the end of the race with gearbox problems in the #47 DC5. Following his teammate home was Khun Yoshiaki in the #46 Kuroki ATP Tein Racing Honda DC5.
Sixth went to Khun Manat in the #37 factory Toyota 86; he suffered after a jump start but was still classified one place ahead of teammate Khun Chen Jian Hong in the new Altis. Khun Manat has now scored points in every race this season and the 8 points he collected on Sunday (as Khun Rudolf isn’t eligible for overall points) moves the former Super 2000 champion into joint second in the overall points standings. The Taiwanese driver meanwhile bagged second place in Class B, which was a decent result after a tough season that has been spent developing the new generation Altis and despite four DNFs so far this year he’s still fifth in the class points standings.
One place behind the #58 Toyota was Khun Nattachak in the #66 TBN MK Ihere Racing Team Civic FD, he also claimed third in Class B, while his team mate Khun Wijak was two places back in the #26 entry but scooped fifth in Class B which meant both drivers climbed onto the class podium.
Splitting the pair was Khun Thamrong in the second of the Singha Cosmo TT Motorsport Civic FD entries. He again had car problems, losing gears in the race, and was still giving away horses under the bonnet, but despite that he collected 10 points towards the Class B rankings and that means he’s third, just 4 points adrift of his teammate Khun Kittipol. That sets up these boisterous ‘twins’, who have been racing against each other even since they were kids, for another ‘winner takes all fight’ in Bangsaen for the Class B runners up spot.
Then came Khun Bhisanu, who was well rewarded with second place in Class C having swapped to a Toyota for the weekend at the very last minute after his regular Civic FD suffered engine problems. He was a lap down. Despite his DNF in the first race, the 15 points he picked up in this race keep him in the Class C championship runner up spot heading to Bangsaen.
The final finisher was Khun Paritat Bulbon in the turbodiesel VW Golf, a car that quite simply didn’t favour the high speed carrying characteristics of this track. That however gave him sixth in Class B and was in fact the first time he’s missed out on the class podium all season. He’s driven very well in the unique car and that consistency has rewarded him with fourth place in the Class B championship standings – and he’s not mathematically out of the fight for P2 and P3 either. He’s also seventh overall too. The #7 Golf should suit Bangsaen better than Buriram so Khun Paritat will be looking to end the season on a strong note.
The lengthy list of retirements was led out by Khun Carlo who was starting his second event in TSS and his weekend in Buriram proved an almost carbon copy of his first at Bira back in July. In both events he had mechanical issues in qualifying and was out of the Saturday race right at the start which meant he lined up for Sunday’s second race at the back of the grid and on both occasions he sliced his way through the pack as far as P2. In both cases however he had to bow to a superior BMW E90 running away in P1 but while he claimed the second step of the podium at the Pattaya race this time the script deviated in Buriram and he pulled up with two laps to go with a flat tyre.
“Yesterday the driveshaft broke so I started last again, just like at Bira,” said the Dutchman late on Sunday afternoon. “Today I had a good start and a good first few laps, I make my way up, lost a little bit because there was a lot of fighting and action but I quickly got into second position. But Tin was too far and maybe even a little too quick, but it was good fun racing and finally we had no trouble until the left front tyre blew.”
However Khun Carlo is clearly enjoying the cut and thrust of Super 2000 as well as his first visit to Buriram and is already looking forward to his third shot at TSS, which will come next month. “[Buriram] is a new track for me, it’s good as I then know all the race circuits in Thailand,” he said. “Bangsaen has a big history. I’ve visited already as a guest but never raced there, I can’t wait to go out there. I love street circuits, I will be in Macau so it’s a good warm up for Bangsaen.” Indeed it will be some ‘warm up’ for Bangsaen, as Khun Carlo will be racing an AAI-entered Mercedes Benz AMG SLS GT3 in the prestigious Macau GT Cup this coming weekend.
Khun Kantadhee dropped out with three laps remaining in the Singha XO Team Eakie-entered Toyota Altezza, which sees him slip a place to fifth in the overall championship standings. Team Owner Khun Anothai Eamlumnow reported that the “pistons had melted”. That was a terminal end to his weekend. In fact it was the second engine failure of the weekend for the #18 Toyota and the team will have to build a fresh power unit in time for Bangsaen.
After his heroics the day before there was less luck for Khun Chayut in the final race, he vanished from the timesheets on lap 4 with engine issues in his DC5, while the same lap also accounted for Khun Jakthong who was having a very busy weekend thanks to his additional Super Car Nissan GT-R commitments. “We had oxygen sensor damage on Saturday so can’t tune it,” he explained. “So [the engine] ran too lean and the piston cracked.” An easy fix though he reckoned so expect to see the #3 Altis back in action in Bangsaen.
The retirements also included Khun Artit in the second factory Altis who dropped out early on; however he continues to impress with every race and his career is certainly on an upward trajectory. Aside from his DNF in the final race he has two wins and three second places from the other five races and has already clinched the Class C title.
Very early baths went to Khun Munkong in the #11 Honda S2000, Khun Supachai, who late in the day resorted to wheeling out his ‘Day-Glo’ orange #71 DC5 once again, and of course Khun Pitsanu who was the first to drop out on lap 1 although he still retains a very reasonable margin at the top of the Class B standings as well as holding joint second place in the overall rankings.
In the championship overall standings Khun Tin now has 214 points, with Khun Manat and Khun Pitsanu joint second on 184 points, the Toyota driver getting the nod as it stands if taken to a tie break. Fourth place goes to Khun Kittipol (176 points) ahead of Khun Kantadhee (174 points) and Khun Thamrong (169 points). The overall top ten is wrapped up by Khun Paritat (154), Khun Chen (149 points), Khun Jakthong (135 points) and Khun Supachai (130 points). Class B meanwhile is led out by Khun Pitsanu (218 points) ahead of Khun Kittipol (206 points) and Khun Thamrong (202 points) while in Class C Khun Artit has streaked away into the distance with 125 points and he’s already wrapped up the title. There are now just two races remaining, both taking place in Bangsaen.