Vattana Motorsport swept up at Bira International Circuit in two of the standout categories on the bumper Thailand Super Series (TSS) programme – Super Car GTC and TCR Thailand. The team racked up 1-2 finishes in both races in both championships with Narasak Ittiritpong and Jack Lemvard doubling up on driving duties in the two categories. While Narasak wrapped up the Super Car GTC title with one round and two races still remaining Jack edged his way into the lead of the TCR Thailand championship classification.
With drivers of the caliber of Jack and Narasak on the roster plus state of the art racing new machinery under them, Vattana Motorsport wasn’t taking any prisoners – or leaving anything to chance – as TSS ended the summer break and moved onto Bira Circuit for the penultimate round of the season.
In Super Car GTC Narasak arrived in Pattaya with a comfortable double win behind him during the last round back in July and three out of four wins for the season, all gained behind the wheel of the sensational new KTM X-Bow GT4. Vattana Motorsport’s aim was very simple, a double win should be enough seal the title while they also drafted their second and thus so far idle new KTM in at the last minute to provide extra support with Jack penciled in to drive.
The result was a foregone conclusion as the two KTMs led proceedings from the start winning both races 1-2. Such was their dominant form that Narasak actually won the first race on three wheels having suffered a rapidly deflating tyre halfway round the last lap.
In TCR Thailand it was very much a similar story as the same drivers, Narasak and Jack swapped mounts and again won 1-2, this time the advantage went to the latter – but that really didn’t tell the whole story at all. Two exciting and utterly close fought races saw Singha Motorsport Team Thailand’s Carlo Van Dam very unlucky not to walk away with a win. However that double victory and maximum event points for Jack has really ignited the Drivers’ championship and he will go into the season closer at Bangsaen in two month’s time separated by just 3 points from the Dutch professional driver and all to play for.
Super Car GTC Race 1 Saturday (Race 5 of the year)
The two impressive KTM X-Bow GT4s took up their position on the front row in the early afternoon heat and it already looked like no one was going to get a look in over the following 22 laps. For the first time the team was running two KTMs with the second example of the Reiter Engineering-built car entrusted into the hands of longtime Vattana Motorsport driver Jack Lemvard.
The KTMs both arrived together earlier this year but only one has been seen out on track so far – and it already has an enviable record, three wins from four races and in the other race it was first past the line before being hit by a time penalty. Jack’s job looked pretty simple – to ride shotgun to Narasak and help him nail the title down with one event, Bangsaen, to spare.
The KTMs really are the class of the field and they have raised the bar in Super Car GTC. They’re a curiously odd machine too, neither beautiful nor ugly, but with a touch of both, they really ooze purpose and menace. Looking somewhat like a ‘mini LMP’ they have quite an awkward feel, endless swathes of carbon fibre wrap up an array of high tech internal components, which can be glimpsed at almost every angle. Certainly if you want to win in GTC this year it’s the only car to have.
Narasak got the job done in qualifying to post a 1:03.580 best lap to claim pole position, the only driver to post a sub 1:04 lap. Meanwhile Jack was making his first appearance in Super Car this year and his first ever drive in GTC; his season long focus in 2016 has been on the new TCR Thailand championship.
Jack had a pretty simple job for the two races – to guard Narasak’s back and collect championship points that could otherwise go to the Toyota’s Manat Kulapalanont, Vattana Motorsport’s only realistic rival remaining for the title. Manat duly lined up in third on the grid, just one tenth of a second behind the #44 KTM so it wasn’t all over yet.
Thomas Raldorf’s debut for B-Quik Racing has become something of a long running saga; circumstances have conspired countless times to delay this fusion of driver and team. But finally the highly experienced Danish driver was out on the grid in a black and yellow car, taking his place on the outside of the second row next to the red and white factory Toyota. So far so good – now he had a pair of 22 lap races to go before the job was finally done.
Thomas wasn’t the only debutant as James Runacres was on the grid in a third Mazda RX-7, this car having been freshly built by the Rotary Revolution team. The 22-year-old Englishman was switching from single seaters to GT cars for the first time and judging by the amount of tyre smoke he was emitting he was taking a while to get used to the much longer braking window of the bigger and heavier Mazda sportscar. However this was very much a learning weekend and James was ticking the boxes in terms improving his lap times even if Team Manager Titapon Phaojinda wasn’t too impressed by how many tyres his new driver was wearing through.
The two KTMs took the lead from the start but Manat made a fast push up the outside of Narasak, there wasn’t enough room though and the Toyota had two wheels scrabbling on the grass and indulged in some door rubbing with the KTM. Narasak held his line though and took the lead as his fast starting teammate Jack took an wider line into Turn 2 but slotted in behind as the two Vattana cars led the pack up the hill for the first time. Pete Thongchua got in ahead of Thomas with the Dane’s teammate Attapot Sriprom next up.
Manat got a great run up the hill and into Turn 3 and pushed his way in between the two KTMs getting alongside Narasak but the leader had the line; however out of the turn and down the hill the Toyota though was able to grab P2 at the expense of Jack. As the cars swept through 100R for the first time it was Narasak from Manat, Jack, Thomas and the fast starting U-tain Pongprapas in the first of the Mazda RX-7s who was pressuring the Porsche in front.
Manat’s second place wouldn’t last too long though as Jack came down the inside of the Toyota into Turn 11 a couple of laps later and kept a tight grip of the line as the pair ran side by side through Turn 12. Meanwhile further back Attapot passed James.
After dropping behind Pete at the start, Thomas worked his way back up to the green Mazda RX-8 and eventually passed him under braking through Turn 11. James passed Suttipong who was now fading after his strong start while Sontaya Kunplome (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) also passed the Toyota driver as these two once more reprised their regular battles.
Into the final lap and it looked like Narasak was assured of a comfortable victory but heading into the S1 chicane his right hand rear tyre started to deflate quickly and with more than a kilometer of racing left it was touch and go. Jack slotted in behind as Manat’s Toyota loomed large. Narasak indulged in a spot of drifting as he pushed the car to the line, he made it despite the tyre ripping away with 50 metres to go. Jack and Manat followed Narasak across the timing line and it was a very close run thing as the top three were covered by just 1.3 seconds! Thomas came home in fourth place, 26 seconds down the road, to earn a trip to the podium on his first start in GTC and his first race with B-Quik, while Pete claimed the last step on the rostrum.
U-tain came home in sixth place, the first of the trio of RX-7s home. “He had a pretty strong race at the beginning but after the halfway point the suspension seemed to have problem at the rear, it was vibrating too much so he decided to had to slow down a bit and be cautious,” reported Team Manager Titapon. P6 equalled U-tain’s best result in GTC so far and wiped away the memory of a double DNF at the last round. Attapot came home in seventh place with the Mazda’s of James and Narin Yensuk up next and they were both lapped. James continued getting used to the RX-7 but was still locking the brakes and ended the race with two very flat spotted tyres while Narin was happy with his afternoon’s work as his best lap was an improvement on his qualifying time. The final finishers were Sontaya and Suttipong.
Super Car GTC Race 2 Saturday (Race 6 of the year)
At the rolling start Manat got a real flyer and came thundering down the inside, surged ahead of Narasak and took the wide line as the cars braked and swung left and uphill through Turn 2 for the first time. That planted the #37 Toyota into the race lead with Narasak and Jack slotting in behind. Next up was the Mazda RX-8 of Pete Thongchua who also got a good start and then the B-Quik Porsche of Attapot and the second factory Toyota 86 of Suttipong before the three Mazda RX-7 machines of U-tain, who got caught up behind Thomas’s slow starting Porsche, U-tain, Narin and debutant James hove into view, the latter two swapping starting positions around as the race got underway. Behind them were the Mitsubishi Evo X of Prateep Tumprasert and the second B-Quik Porsche 996 GT3 Cup of Attapot Sriprom. In fact as well as this being the first time that Vattana had run both its KTMs it was also the first time that B-Quik had both its Porsche 996s in action.
A man on a mission to nail down the title over the next half an hour, Narasak didn’t wait very long before negating the audacious move for the lead by Manat. The KTM driver hustled the Toyota out of the S2 chicane and then elbowed his way down the inside as they braked for Turn 11. The duo went side by side though Turn 12 and down the main straight before Narasak just got his nose in front at Turn 1 to command the line and take the lead.
Jack didn’t wait long either and he tried to perform a carbon copy pass into Turn 11 the next lap as Manat left some space, however the Toyota covered that shimmy well but the momentum was with the KTM driver and he tried to power his way past on the main straight as he was anxious to grab P2. The Toyota however fended off the KTM through Turn 3 and down the hill and round 100R but coming out of the S1 chicane Manat made an error, got onto the grass, wobbled and had to correct the car. Jack simply needed no second invitation and he powered down the paddock side of the track and swept into the S2 chicane ahead of the Toyota.
Pete was now locked onto the back of the tussling Jack and Manat – he was having a good race – while in the battle for sixth place U-tain was pressing the fast starting Suttipong hard. Meanwhile further back Prateep had nipped past James into ninth and then tried a look down the paddock side of Narin in eighth on the run into the S2 chicane. However on the next lap into the 100R turn James got the place back and the recovering Thomas followed him through as the Mitsubishi was abruptly dumped two places down the running order. The Dane then took a hard look at James into Turn 11 but the yellow Mazda had it covered although Thomas made a pass stick a couple of laps later, again into Turn 11.
At the front the KTMs were in total control with Jack glued onto the back of Narasak. Behind them Manat and Pete had spaced out as the top four looked pretty settled down. U-tain was still trying to find a way past Suttipong but he had to start looking in his mirrors as Thomas picked off Narin, again into Turn 11, to move into eighth place as he successfully managed the stuttering #25 Porsche. The B-Quik driver kept the momentum up and passed U-tain into Turn 2 before dispensing with Suttipong into Turn 3 to climb to sixth place. U-tain, who had been stuck behind Suttipong from the start after an unsighted run at the green lights, tried to follow Thomas through but overcooked it and spun on the exit of Turn 3. U-tain would drop back to tenth place as he recovered the car and rejoined; however that spin had a knock on effect and caused some damage to the suspension and he would have to switch focus to nurse the car home.
James meanwhile had taken advantage of Thomas’ charged through the midfield to regain the place he lost to Narin at the start and climb up to eighth place. The then powered past Suttipong on the main straight to move up to seventh place. Narin, after a strong start, suffered a broken exhaust pipe after cutting some very tight lines across the S1 and S2 chicanes. That forced the ‘pink’ Mazda to pit for the crew to check and patch up and he would emerge three laps down but was still classified in eleventh place.
This time there would be no sting in the tail for Narasak and he crossed the finishline with all four of the KTM’s tyres fully inflated to take his second win of the weekend, his fifth win from six races this season, and his first ever Super Car title. Job well done by this driver. Jack sat on his shoulders all race, did the job the team wanted off him and crossed the line eight tenths of a second further back. That made it two 1-2 finishes for the KTMs from a weekend where no one had been able to find an answer.
Narasak was clearly delighted with the title. He’s had a tough couple of years in Super Car. He scored a sensational debut win in the GTM category in a Vattana-run Mitsubishi Evo in 2013 but ever since then has struggled with this unreliable and outdated car during sporadic appearances in GTC since while he’s also had a few races in one of the team’s Lamborghini Gallardo GT3s. This year he was entrusted with the new KTM and there’s simply been no looking back. “It was a big surprise when I knew from the team that I had won the title,” he said. “I only focused on my office, the racecar, to get the best result. I would like to thank all the people in team and the people who were supporting behind the scenes. The car was great and mechanics were superb.”
Jack had enjoyed his first time in the KTM, a slightly unexpected debut that only came around late in the day, but without much testing time he got the job of supporting Narasak’s title ambitions done superbly, finishing second in both races, the task he had been allotted. “I was so surprised by how much grip there was,” he said. “It was my first time driving the KTM and because I’m driving in two classes I drove it like the Seat TCR but it had a lot more downforce than I expected, the KTM X-Bow is an amazing car.
“We did have some BoP on the KTM,” Jack continued. “But we still managed to do a good job with double a 1-2 finish so I’m really happy with that. I have to give a massive thumbs up to Vattana Motorsport for preparing such a good setup even with so much success ballast. In the GTC we finished first and second so it was a perfect weekend and good for Narasak’s championship points.”
Manat gave it his very best shot and kept the two carbon black cars in sight all weekend, heroically, he had albeit briefly held the lead at the start of the race but over the final laps he backed off and finished 4 seconds adrift.
Pete had a great race to come home fourth but he eventually drifted off into no mans land and was 15 seconds behind the Toyota in front. It was another 12 seconds back to the first of the B-Quik Porsches as Attapot drove another steady and consistent race to claim the last podium position. He hardly saw anyone during the race but his neat and tidy afternoon’s work gave him a good reward.
Attapot’s teammate, Thomas, came home next in sixth place almost half a minute down the road but happy to have climbed so far up the leaderboard with the stuttering #25 Porsche. He really had been racing with one hand tied behind his back, as he explained afterwards. “As soon as I tried to apply full throttle it was like the ECU cut out and shutdown or went into a safe mode so there was zero throttle response for a few seconds so when the start lights went out and I thumped it, the power was cut and car slowed down as everybody else accelerated so I was lucky not to get hit,” Thomas said. “The next few laps it cut several times until I figured out how to drive it without this problem occurring, if I slowly applied the throttle and not more than 80-85% then it did not cut but sometimes I was able to apply it slowly and then apply more than that, but then back to same problem. When I overtook James the first time I forgot and applied full throttle and car again slowed down and he went back passed me and I had to try again to pass him the same happened with [U-tain] and Suttipong, when I passed them and they passed me back.”
Despite those problems Thomas was able to cap his debut weekend with B-Quik with a very solid finish to add to his podium visit the day before and he was pleased with how it had all shaken out. “Since I am planning to do a full season in GTC in 2017 the weekend was used as a test run so I could try out the rear wheel drive Porsche and get some track time,” he said. “I worked really well with the B-Quik team and their race engineers, and all the feedback I got helped them to find a good setup for me. Towards the end of the weekend I started to feel very comfortable in the car in terms of its handling and I am convinced that this is the right decision for me for 2017.”
Prateep had a steady race in the Mitsubishi as he continues to improve and get more used to the car and he claimed seventh place, one slot ahead of James who picked up his second P8 of the weekend on what was his debut in TSS. Rotary Revolution Team Manager Titapon was pretty satisfied with the way the weekend had shaken out for his team. “We are happy [with the] result as all the cars finished with no engine failures,” he said. “We have to let James learn more about car before Bangsaen and we are going to adjust the brakes to help him with that problem. I believe at Bangsaen he will be fast and his performance will be better exploited there because this weekend is just less than 50 laps and he did very well to learn the car fast.”
In the championship standings its game over as with five wins and a sixth place from the six races held so far this year Narasak has an unmatchable 106 points as Manat is on 64 points with a maximum score of 40 points still remaining to be fought over in Bangsaen. However the race for the runners up spot is going to be very close as Pete is on 56 points while Rudolf Yu, who missed the Bira Circuit round but has confirmed that he will be back in the Ginetta for Bangsaen, remains on 48 points. Then come Suttipong (44) and Attapot (43) who are both still in the frame for one of the coveted top three spots in the championship.
TCR Thailand Race 1 Saturday (Race 7 of the year)
The front row was all ‘Vattana grey’ as Jack Lemvard claimed pole position in the team’s #44 SEAT Léon Cup Racer while Narasak Ittiritpong lined up on the outside with the team’s #59 Honda Civic TCR. Row 2 saw championship leader Carlo Van Dam alongside debutant Chariya Nuya who had stepped into the Team Eakie BBR Kaiten Honda that was used to such great effect by Kantadhee Kusiri during the previous round. That zippy form for the red, black and white Civic continued as Chariya’s fourth place equated to Amateur (AM) class pole.
Right from the green lights the top three slotted into grid order and then proceeded to spend the entire 22 laps of the race running nose to tail with Jack in front but struggling with an overheating car that knocked down his peak available power. Narasak was in the middle of that sandwich with Carlo locked on his tail the whole time and having to defend his position very hard.
Probably the more tense moment came as Carlo went up the inside of Narasak in Turn 11, they banged doors, kept banging their doors and bouncing off each other through Turn 12, dragged each other down the main straight and indulged in some more door banging up the hill to Turn 3 with Narasak getting two wheels on the grass and kicking up the dirt. However the Honda driver superbly held his nerve and the racing line and that gave him the inside path into Turn 3 and the menace was temporarily averted.
Over the last couple of laps Narasak pressed Jack very hard for P1 and out of Turn 11 for the last time it got very intense as the grey Honda tapped the back of the grey SEAT as Carlo attempted to slingshot round the outside. Narasak cut off Carlo’s last gasp ambitions on grabbing extra points at the death and the trio thundered across the line for the last time split by a mere eight tenths of a second. As an advert for the new ‘TCR’ formula it couldn’t have been much better.
Half a minute down the road Chariya came home fourth to win the AM race on his debut. He fought back very well after a spin earlier in the race through Turn 2 which had seen him come up to rest backwards against the tyre wall; but with no damage to the Honda and he was able to rejoin and steadily fight his way back into the AM lead. He eventually took the AM lead away from another debutant, Rattanin Leenutaphong, after a real door banger through Turn 12.
Rattanin, a former Super Eco driver, was making his long awaited TCR debut in the Yontrakit Racing Team’s new SEAT Léon TCR. This was one of two brand new ‘Model Year 2016’ versions of the Spanish racecar that have just arrived in Thailand – and its newness was evident as the car spent the weekend at Bira finished in ex-factory ‘body in white’ with just racing numbers breaking up the pristine appearance of the car. It was a neat and tidy debut too as he bagged the runners up spot in the AM class.
Sixth place went to the Sloth Racing SEAT of Paritat Bulbon; he was one lap down. Paritat traded up from the Léon Cup racer that he’d used over the opening three rounds of the TCR Thailand season to the other example of the two new MY2016 Léon racecars to arrive here in recent weeks while the final finisher was Nattachak Hanjitkasem in the TBN MK ihere Racing Team’s Civic and that added up to third place in the AM class. Nattachak had a long trip down the grass on the outside between the S1 and S2 chicanes but kept it all together to bring the car safely to the finishline.
TCR Thailand Race 2 Saturday (Race 8 of the year)
Sunday’s final race saw the usual top five reverse grid and that planted Rattanin on pole position with Chariya alongside, the two AM class debutants occupying the front row. Behind them there was the potentially explosive menace of Carlo and Narasak while the previous day’s winner Jack started right behind them on Row 3 with Paritat alongside.
At the green lights Rattanin made a tardy start and was already down to fifth by Turn 1 as the flying trio – Carlo, Narasak and Jack – pushed up quickly. Chariya though dug in and got a great start from the outside of the front row to grab the inside line into Turn 2 as the pack braked and swung uphill. Carlo however powered round the outside and by Turn 3 he was in the lead and as the first lap unfolded it was the closely matched top three of the previous day, but in reverse order, the red and white Singha Motorsport Team Thailand entry heading the two matte grey Vattana cars with Narasak just holding the advantage over Jack. Further back Nattachak put a move on Paritat to move into sixth place.
Carlo quickly stretched out his lead to a couple of seconds and with the gap widening Jack passed his teammate Narasak and set about trying to close the gap down – he had to push as hard as he could as the championship was at stake.
Adrift of the top trio there was a battle brewing for fourth place as Rattanin, after a tardy start, had closed up on Chariya while Nattachak, after getting past Paritat, was reeling in the pair in front and in fact Paritat was unlocking quicker race pace now and was also closing in.
Chariya dropped back and that left Rattanin to fend off Nattachak in the battle of the AM drivers. It would remain that way with the Honda eventually slipping back to finish 6 seconds off the white SEAT while Chariya claimed third place in the class as all three AM drivers made a second trip to the podium of the weekend, albeit in a different order to the previous day.
Debutant Chariya was delighted with how his weekend in the Eakie BBR Kaiten Honda had shaken out; two races in the AM class resulting in two trips to the podium and one win. “It was really good experience for [my] first time racing in TCR,” he said afterwards. “I’m very, very happy with the result, my best lap time was better than I expected and more importantly we finished the race with no damage to the car. I still have a lot to improve, especially driving in a left hand drive car for the first time is really challenging but I will do best to improve [my] results in future.”
At the race relentlessly moved towards the two-thirds distance mark the outcome would abruptly be decided. Carlo suddenly slowed up and dropped back behind the two Vattana cars as he suffered gearbox problems. In fact his troubles had actually started a few laps earlier, as he explained afterwards. “On lap 10 all the dashboard info disappeared [and] fours laps after that I lost all the gears,” said the Dutch professional driver. “After a reset I finished the race in automatic mode.” It was a bitter blow to his championship aspirations as that further eroded his shrinking advantage in the points’ classification and in fact tipped the scales very narrowly in favour of Jack when the dust had settled.
Jack needed no second invitation and he nursed his overheating car to the line while Narasak closed right up over the final laps and the gap at the line was just two tenths of a second. Jack was also suffering from transmission issues in the identical SEAT but in his case he had a little more luck as it all held together to the finish. The same result as the day before – but two wins for Jack and two third places for Carlo had turned the championship on its head.
Jack was delighted with how his weekend panned out. “WestCoast did an amazing setup for qualifying which for Bira is very important,” he said. “The [SEAT Léon Model Year] 2015 is quite hard to drive because it’s so warm in Thailand [but] it’s so much fun to race with. I had a good race with Carlo Van Dam he is a true pro driver, big respect to him and I’m looking forward to race in Bangsaen. The reason I was a bit slower than my teammate Narasak was because my car went into ‘safe mode’ so it only had 70% power sometimes but I still pulled out two wins out of two.”
The two Vattana cars came home nose to tail and Narasak was happy with the weekend as well. “I’m still learning [and I] need more consistency from myself. The car is beautiful, it’s powerful but sensitive and the engineering [by the team] was great. The most important thing to do [now] is more setting work and attacking without mistakes.”
The PRO-AM Drivers’ championship now rests on a knife-edge. With two wins at Bira compared to two third places for Carlo, Jack ripped 20 points out of his rival and thus edges into the classification lead by just 3 points. It’s 126 to 123 points respectively and Bangsaen is going to be a fight to the death for the first ever TCR Thailand title. Narasak moves up to 97 points and mathematically he’s not quite out of the race yet, but it would require a huge upset for him to be able to sneak away with the title. Paritat meanwhile climbs to fourth place with 82 points. In the AM class Chen Jian Hong is on 150 points with Nattachak on 130 points.