The first race of the day was held under extremely hot conditions and Sy made no mistake at the start powering into an immediate lead which he stretched to the length of the long Sentul pit straight by the race end. Championship leader, Ananda Mikola, had a fright when his throttle stuck open in the fast esses and he speared off into the barriers. James Winslow settled into a safe second place whilst team mate, John O’Hara, harried Christian Jones for third place. Once by he closed in on Winslow but the latter seemed to have it all under control and they finished in that order. Jones was having to deal with the attentions of Dado Pena but the pressure was off the Australian when the Filipino spun in the fast esses. Pena recovered to finish seventh. Rodolfo Avila followed his team leader, Jones, home in fifth place whilst Promotion Class leader, Moreno Soeprapto, finished a fine sixth. Lee Farrell ran out of road on lap two and parked in the gravel leaving Greg Murphy and Mike Tuason to complete the Promotions Class podium. Enzo Pastor completed the point finishers despite a sick sounding engine.
Sy made a hesitant start to race two and Winslow was able to capitalize and grab the lead. Sy was over the Englishman and it seemed only a matter of time before he got by. This was accomplished on lap two at the slow chicane and he then proceeded to drive off into the distance, his fastest lap a whole second quicker than anyone else. Winslow had to cope with the attentions of John O’Hara once Sy was by and they were able to keep the crowd entertained for a few laps. Ananda Mikola meanwhile had started last on the grid and was quickly past the Promotion Class runners and onto the tail of the group headed by Winslow. Mikola dispatched Avila and then Pena before turning his attentions to O’Hara. This ended in tears when O’Hara’s right front made contact with Mikola’s left rear, leaving O’Hara to retire with damaged suspension whilst Mikola went on to finish third despite a severely bent wheel. Dado Pena salvaged a fourth place from his weekend whilst Avila followed him home in fifth. Moreno once again finished a fine sixth but this time he was pushed all the way by Farrell, the pair split by less than a second at the finish. Murphy and Tuason completed the podium with Pastor again completing the point finishers. Poor Christian Jones snapped drive shaft and was pushed off the grid before the race started.
Mikola leads Sy by 26 points with Winslow a further point behind. These three will battle out the championship at the Batangas Race Circuit in the Philippines for the season’s final event on November 6th. Mikola remains the odds on favorite but he needs to finish both races reasonably well. A repeat of this weekend would hand the championship to Sy and Winslow is still in the mix. Moreno has a 39 point lead therefore with 40 points on offer at Batangas he really just has to turn up and cruise round to be crowned Promotion Class Champion. Murphy has a 21 point lead over Farrell for second place.
|
