It’s been hot in Buriram all week while out on track it’s been really sizzling as the action ramps up and the first ever Thailand Super Series (TSS) races are now all set to get underway this morning, starting in fact at 0900 with the first of three races for Super Eco. Even a sudden rainstorm yesterday couldn’t put a dampening on the proceedings, it reached fever pitch on the slippery track as qualifying was fought out – drivers and cars going up against the clock to decide the grids for the sixteen races that will take place today and tomorrow.
It’s very evenly matched too. In Class 1-GT3 the dominant team during the last round, Reiter Vattana Motorsport, now has some serious competition in the shape of Toyota Team Thailand’s new M101-86, which blasted its way to pole position. That means it’s shaping up to be a three-way fight, Lamborghini vs Camaro vs Toyota, for victory.
In Super Car Class 2-GTM it’s also very tight, the time gap between the top runners are measured in tenths of a second and that means pace, reliability and strategic thinking is going to decide the races. Pole went to the Ferrari of Khun Voravud Bhirombhakdi, driver, car and team were all inch perfect in the tricky conditions. A damp track for the three Super Car sessions, as well as in Super 2000, means that qualifying doesn’t pain a perfect picture however.
There simply isn’t a class where one can pick a clear winner and after qualifying the picture is as still unclear. It means that fans are in for a real treat with a weekend of non-stop action for Thailand’s biggest and most glamorous race series. It’s hot off track – and it’s equally hot on track. Let battle commence.
Super Car Class 1-GT3
The balance shifted one way and then shifted the other, the debuting Toyota stood on the top of the timesheets and then the Vattana drivers wrestled away the top spot – but as the session wound down it was red, white and silver Japanese car in the hands of Khun Kazuya Oshima, who is also debuting in TSS, that locked away the top spot after he became the only driver to turn in sub-1:40 lap on the drying track. His 1:39.676 ended up being a healthy sixth-tenths ahead of the best Khun Tomáš Enge could manage in the Camaro and it was game over. The new Toyota had arrived, shown its hand and walked off with pole position.
Toyota Team Thailand has massive representation in the paddock here, it’s got cars in Super Car Class 2-GTM and Super Car Class 3-GTC as well as Super 2000, but it’s in Super Car Class 1-GT3 where the fans’ attention really is focused. The team is back in the big time and its dramatic new weapon, dubbed
the M101-86, is a sensational machine and right up to the job. They have a new driver behind the wheel for the car’s debut in TSS, Japanese hotshot, Khun Kazuya, and he’s looked quick over the last few days while on the timesheets he’s been swapping P1 with Khun Tomáš all the way through the practice sessions.
Khun Kazuya laid down his marker in yesterday morning’s official Free Practice run in no uncertain terms with a zippy 1:35.367 best lap and he was in fact the only driver to go sub-1:36. That put him more than a second clear of the Camaro and set the Japanese driver up for the qualifying session. Then in the afternoon he went out and nabbed pole – it’s certainly been a dream start.
Team Manager Khun Suttipong Smittachartch was cautiously pleased with progress, although he reckoned that the extra ‘new entry’ ballast could affect their race performance. “It’s good but we had to put [in an] extra 50 kilos which is very big for this car so the time should have [been] faster, but we will try our best,” he said.
Certainly this brand new car, which has just one race under its belt (that coming in Super GT here earlier this month), could now be in with a chance of making a winning debut. It would certainly be a sensational first chapter of Toyota’s heralded arrival in Super Car Class 1-GT3. But qualifying was on a damp track and arguably Khun Tomáš didn’t fully show his hand so there are many, many questions still to be answered. And they will be answered this afternoon.
A big car for a big track. The Chevrolet Camaro GT3 is as big and brutal as it gets and on the ultra long straights and high speed turns here the Czech superstar was able to put that horsepower to good use. He was another driver to be impressed by the new facility. “I really am enjoying the circuit, it’s a good challenge, some of the corners are very challenging, lets say turn 3 and turn 5, 6 and 7 as well, so heavy braking and long straights,” said Khun Tomáš. “It has something of everything from every circuit around the world, I really like it, it’s a nice circuit.”
The week has been going to plan so far for Reiter Vattana Motorsport. “We set up the Lamborghinis straight away, they’re really good [on this circuit],” says Khun Tomáš. “With the Camaro we are fighting with the balance of the car, but were getting there. The power is an advantage for sure on the one hand, but in the other hand is the Camaro’s weight. I gain a lot of time in Sector 1 but I lose time to the other cars in Sector 2 and Sector 3 so it will be a question of who will get it best in the race. We have a threat in the new Toyota also but at Reiter Vattana we really enjoy the challenge, we enjoy battles with the competitors.” The team held Khun Tomáš for much of the session as the track steadily dried out and clearly there is more to come from this car/driver package.
There was a real story behind the third fastest driver in qualifying. Sometimes racing is all about overcoming adversity and fighting with everything you have available to you just to get onto the grid. That’s been the case for Khun ‘Kiki’ Sak Nana this week and the story has a happy ending. Before the action had even started he needed a replacement engine – and PU’s for Porsche’s MY2014 997 GT3-R aren’t the sort of thing you can pick up anywhere.
“It was on my first practice day of Buriram and the car doesn’t feel as powerful as before,” he says. “But my engineer and Ian [Geekie] told me to keep pushing and then a warning light came up and I looked in the rear view mirror and saw smoke coming up so I went to the pit and then five seconds after that the car stopped oil dripping onto the exhaust [and that] caused a fire. But the safety here is really quick and they got the fire out, so luckily and there was no damage.”
That was only a ‘cosmetic’ fire, but much bigger problems were yet to come. “My engineers did the data log checking and reported [the data online] to the factory and they say there is something wrong with the crank sensor and they said the oil is coming out from the crank sensor. So they said not to worry, pack the engine and Porsche will pay the delivery there and back [to Germany] by DHL and Porsche will pay for a new engine as this engine has only run 6 hours and we’ve never started it without a Porsche factory engineer [in attendance], so that’s very kind of Porsche,” he says.
“But I’m stuck,” Khun Kiki adds. And he really was. A brand new Porsche 997 GT3-R sitting in Buriram with a driver and team ready to race – but with no spare engine available in the garage. “So I thought ‘what should I do’,” continues Khun Kiki. “Then Vutthikorn [Inthraphuvasak] has just landed from Germany and so I sent him a Whatsapp message and then I call him and explain everything to him. And Vutthikorn says ‘why you waste your time talking, just send your car to Bangkok and I will give you my engine’.
“I was shocked, I got goose bumps,” Khun Kiki says. “This car even if you have money you cant buy it and for him to just give me his engine, a hundred thousand euro engine, I don’t know what to say. So I said ‘can I think about it?’ and I talk to Ian [Geekie] and Sven [Schnabl] and the team and everybody said you’re the boss, make up your mind. So it took me over an hour to think which is the way and at the end of the day I love Porsche, I love to drive and I want to win with this car so I will continue fighting.
“So I call Vutthikorn back and say I want to borrow your engine,” he continues. He says to me to send the car to Bangkok now and he will sort it all out. So I sent the car to Bangkok and his team arranged to get his engine out [of his car] and put it in my car. I’m still speechless, I don’t have the words, I have tears in my eye.”
As the Wednesday evening sunlight light faded over Buriram the dark shadow of a racing Porsche slunk out of the circuit strapped down on the back of a slide with a 400 km trip into the night ahead. But not for no good reason has AAS earned a reputation for excellence – off the track as well as on it. The Krating Daeng liveried Porsche arrived at AAS’s Bangkok workshops at 2am where the mechanics had already removed the PU from Khun Vutthikorn’s car and just three hours later, at around 5am, car #2 was setting off on its way back to Buriram.
One Porsche 997 GT3-R in ‘ready to race’ condition was delivered back to the Krating Daeng garage on Thursday morning. “[AAS] did a brilliant job, a faultless job, everything is perfect, everything spot on,’ said Khun Kiki after he got back on track – and crucially, back onto the pace. “My mechanics rechecked everything, from the first bolt to the last bolt and they had done a brilliant job.”
Anyway, with all that behind him, Khun Kiki went out there yesterday and set the third fastest time, 1:41.260. His team’s efforts had certainly been well worth it.
Completing Row 2 was Khun Jack Lemvard. He was three-tenths off Khun Kiki as he dialled himself into the Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 that was previously the mount of Khun Sanchai Engtrakul. “It’s great fun but I’m not used to it,” he said. “I’m still picking it up slowly but now I’m getting consistent so I’m really doing laps to get used to the track and the car.” He was certainly enjoying the ample power of the Gallardo GT3 and the track – both being new to him. “It’s so much more fun and so much more downforce. It looks easy but it’s actually quite tricky, mess up one corner you’ve messed up two corners.”
Khun Bobby Buncharoen was fifth with a best time in the damp of 1:45.354. The team reported no major changes to the car since the last round, they have been working on setup over the last couple of days and fixed a brake problem.
Khun Chonsawat Asavahame was sixth with a 1:47.319 lap, but the Reiter Vattana Motorsport Team Owner will have work to do today if he is to pull in a big haul of points while next up on the timesheets was Khun Umar Rahman, who is making his Class 1-GT3 debut this weekend and he was in fact another driver who required a race against time to be on the grid.
Engine problems on Thursday necessitated an overnight PU replacement. But it’s an old unit, probably dropping around 100 hp, although at least it will haul Khun Umar into the action, as he explains. “We did a little shakedown two weeks ago and then we were here on Wednesday and everything was fine and then during my first lap to warm up the tyres and warm up the brakes I feel I’ve lost a lot of power,” he says.
“I carried on but after three laps I had no choice but to believe there was something wrong with the car and I came in,” Khun Umar continued. “So we check everything and basically cylinder #3 wasn’t working so we have to change to a very old spare engine so hopefully it works.”
It also means that Khun Umar will have to move fast to ensure his damaged engine is rebuilt and the car is ready in time for Bangsaen. “Reiter Engineering had a very close look at it and we have no choice really but to send the engine back to Germany [to rebuild] so the engine left here [on Friday morning] and will be on the plane Monday morning to be back and ready for Bangsaen,” he adds. However the replacement engine came through the official free practice session and qualifying so he will be on the grid this afternoon.
Super Car Class 2-GTM
This track was never going to suit the Ferrari 458 Challenge, especially as it’s still carrying full compliment of success ballast, so the target was always going to be to maximise the points’ score. That was the script. However the script got at least partly ripped up yesterday afternoon.
Singha Motorsport Team Thailand had spent two days, Wednesday and Thursday, testing intensively and as well as Khun Voravud’s time in the cockpit, Khun Carlo Van Dam has been setting up the car and the team also has its spare 458 Challenge on hand. They worked very hard, were meticulously well prepared, put in the effort and it all paid off. Khun Voravud banged in a 1:45.054 and no one else could match it. First blood to the Prancing Horse.
The qualifying session took place in the wet and so it’s not quite the full picture but this team looks well placed to defend its early advantage over the next two days. Khun Voravud has come on a long way this year with his career, he’s clever and sharp and gets the job done, certainly now he has to be considered amongst the top drivers in Thailand and he knows very well how to defend his slender points cushion.
After qualifying Chief Engineer Khun Gianluca Soli was happy with the direction made but as ever keen to downplay their chances. “The new track is very good, we enjoy to be here,” the Italian said. “The track is very fast and our competitors are very strong and we are not so strong but in the end I think we get the right set up and also Voravud has done a very good job so we think we can be strong and competitive. We’re not looking to win the race this time but we can get [on] the podium and score a lot of points. It should be an interesting race.”
Second and third places went to the two factory Toyotas; the team really has started the weekend well. In the end Khun Nattapong Horthongkum edged out his teammate Khun Nattavude Charoensukhawatana by half a second. But it’s all much too close to call, as Khun Voravud was just a few tenths ahead of the #38 Toyota.
Then comes a trio of Porsches. Khun Aekarat Discharoen with a time of 1:46.016 was the best placed and he completed Row 2 alongside Khun Nattavude. Then Row 3 is an all-Porsche affair as Khun Sarun Sereethoranakul was fifth (he is debuting on Hoosier tyres this weekend) while Khun Kantasak Kusiri was sixth.
The NSports-Yokohama-Project Mu Team Thailand Nissan GT-Rs claimed seventh and ninth spots. Khun Traitanit Chimtawan was the quicker of the two cars with a 1:50.163 while his new team mate Khun Jakthong Navasoopanich was bedding in and produced a 2:00.366.
According to Team Owner Khun Thongchai Kittisiriprasert a lot of work has been done to the cars since they were last seen on a racetrack when they tested at Bira Circuit at the end of September. “We’ve done a lot of things on the cars, we change to a new suspension system and brake system and also the fuel line system we make for the car,” he said.
“The cars performed really well,’ he continued. “Except for two things, the transmission which is a standard as we cannot do anything with the original transmission as we use a standard ECU with upgrade software and also the car is too heavy.”
The GT-Rs were performing better on this track reckoned Khun Thongchai. “It’s a lot better than Bira as the surface is so smooth, Bira is always rough all the time,” he said. The Japanese cars looked very useful at points, they set their times early in the session and should make progress at the green lights.
Sandwiched between the matte-carbon Nissans on the grid will be B-Quik’s Audi R8 LMS Cup, which has looked sharp and well suited to the track all week. Driver Khun Henk J. Kiks enjoyed some pre race testing here a couple of weeks ago and over the two practice days was able to run a lot of laps. Since the last TSS round the team has contested the gruelling Merdeka Sepang 12 Hours endurance race – and that has played into their hands, giving driver and team a lot of time to spend with the new car and all on a track with broadly similar characteristics as can be found on the Buriram circuit.
“I was here two weeks ago with the [Porsche] 997, I had good fun,” said the Dutchman. “We expected the Audi to work well here which it seems it does. We learnt a lot in the Merdeka race about this type of car and setup on this type of track because it’s comparable with setup. The aero works and that’s a benefit of the Audi also and it seems the speed is there but the track is difficult and you really have to stitch it all together to get a decent lap. It’s a joy to drive [the circuit], it’s very nice if you’ve got it together and the car works.”
The black and yellow R8 has had much work done on it since its Merdeka race action at the end of August. “The car is good, we’ve got a few niggles and a few little things but that’s the same with every car really,” he added. During the qualifying session the R8 topped the timesheets at points as the track conditions shifted. By the end Khun Henk had to settle for P8 but he looks to be in very good shape for a strong race. The second B-Quik entry, the #29 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup driven by Khun Thomas Raldorf, failed a weight check and will start from the back.
Then in tenth spot comes the PTT Performa RZ Yokohama Racing Team Mazda RX-8 of Khun Pete Thongchua. The car, which only debuted at the start of this season, has new aero upgrades all round fitted especially for this event. The team only finished the work just a few days ago, which left them with very little time to prepare.
Sitting out the qualifying session however was the Holden Commodore. Khun Craig Corliss had a big moment during Thursday’s free practice session that took the front end of the car off and new parts had to be flown in. “We went out there and we were going pretty good, the first lap out there we improved a second,” recalled the big New Zealander yesterday as the damaged car sat on jacks in the garage ready for repairs. “But while still on the warm up laps I came round the left hander and the rear flipped out and we went into the wall. It took the front end off but the engine’s intact so just a few things like the alternator to sort out, I’ve got a mate coming over from Australia with all the parts on Friday afternoon and we will be working hard and on the grid on Saturday afternoon.”
At 10pm last night Khun Craig reported that the replacement parts were “30 minutes from the track” and the crew were in the garage and standing by for begin fitting the new front end. A long night was ahead.
Super Car Class 3-GTC
Certainly revelling in the wet conditions yesterday afternoon was Khun Oou Naputt. He was driving his Ginetta G55 for the first time since he debuted the car at Sepang during the 2013 TSS season opener, so that meant he hadn’t even sat the car for well over a year. In a small footnote when he rolled out onto the track it was the first time a Ginetta had ever screamed in anger on a Thai circuit.
Khun Oou was enjoying the car and enjoying Buriram. “The car’s like a big go kart,” he said with a laugh. “From last time it was great and now it’s great, that’s it really, I didn’t do much to it, checking the car, making sure everything is in place, that it runs okay. The last time I drove it was in June last year.”
It didn’t stop him banging in a best lap of 2:00.534 on the wet track to claim pole position in Super Car Class 3-GTC, a really impressive performance. “The track
is amazing and the car really rises to the occasion,” Khun Oou continued. “The track surface itself I think is better than Sepang so it’s kind to the tyres, I like it a lot and I can really try the car out. It’s great fun, it’s a good little car but it’s very much down in power, we put it on the dyno and it has 316 horsepower, it’s about the same power as a K engine series really,” he adds with a laugh. In the wet that power disadvantage was well masked so Khun Oou will certainly be hoping for much more rain during the weekend.
Third fastest was the Mitsubishi Evo X of championship leader Khun Grant Supaphong; the double winner last time out did a tidy 2:04.147 to open out Row 2. Fourth went to the second placed driver in the standings, Khun Daychapon Toyingcharoen, and that made it a second row lockout for Krating Daeng Racing Team by NSports.
A new name to the category, Khun Chayut Yangpichit, will lead out Row 3 this afternoon; he’s debuting in Class 3-GTC this weekend in a Singha Cosmo TT Motorsport-run Mitsubishi Evo X. The car is a former rally machine so it’s nowhere near enjoying an optimum setup for the racetrack. Khun Chayut is treating this weekend as a test session and he will then make a decision on what direction to take with this car afterwards.
Toyota Team Thailand Team Manager Khun Suttipong Smittachartch is debuting a new Toyota 86, which his team has built especially for Class 3-GTC, this weekend. A racer through and through, he notes his entry into the new class is strictly for “fun”.
Khun Suttipong turned in a 2:17.995 best lap in the new car, which is still some way from being fully sorted. It means we say goodbye to the turbocharged Super Car class Altis that Khun Suttipong raced at Sepang and Bira, a former title winning machine its racing days are now finally over.
Japanese hotshot Khun Akihiro Asai is back in the Ferrari 430 Challenge he ran at Bira in July, but he failed a weight check after the session and will start from the back. The car has gone from yellow to red since its last outing – and it looks quicker. Also joining the grid today will be TSS President Sontaya Kunplome in his regular Porsche.
Super 2000
The rain really upset the order in Buriram yesterday afternoon. The Super 2000 runners took to a soaking wet track following a rainstorm that delayed their session and as a drying line started to emerge the times tumbled – all the way to the flag as the track was still thoroughly damp when the clocks stopped.
And when they stopped Khun Hideharu Kuroki was on pole. He arrived in the series at the last round and immediately made everyone stand up and take notice. Yesterday afternoon he went to the top with a 2:00.302 in the #47 Honda
DC5. Despite the rain it will be an all front wheel drive Honda first row this afternoon as Khun Carlo Van Dam in the Singha Motorsport Team Thailand Civic FD2 was second quickest with a 2:00.764. Expect some real bumper to bumper racing today between these two top drivers.
Championship leader Khun Tin Sritrai was next up in P3 but he wasn’t enjoying the conditions in his BMW E90. However he’s handily ahead of all his title rivals on the grid and his priority will be to add more points as he looks to charge to a second consecutive Super 2000 title.
Khun Chayut Yangpichit will complete Row 2 in his Honda DC5. That was an impressive result although he professed afterwards to not liking the rain. With the Class 3-GTC and Super 2000 sessions being combined Khun Chayut jumped in his new Class 3-GTC Mitsubishi Evo X first (when the circuit was much wetter as there is only a small grid in the new category) before coming in and changing over to the DC5 and taking advantage as the track dried out some more.
Then comes Khun Kittipol Pramoj Na Ayudhya in the #25 Singha Cosmo TT Motorsport Civic FD. He’s had a fair bit of track time over the last few days but that made him the fastest driver in the ruthlessly competitive Class B. He’s a driver that gets faster and faster with every race and is one that has to be looked out for now.
In fact it’s fair to say that the Singha Cosmo TT Motorsport drivers are always ones to look out for, if there is a scrap on track, they’re most likely to be involved. They got their setbacks out of the way before the official programme kicked off as Khun Kittipol’s teammate Khun Thamrong Mahadumrongkul explained after qualifying. “[On Thursday] morning we had the first practice in [Khun Kittipol’s] car and my car and we had a problem with the gearbox, with the new fifth and six gears [that were fitted] for the Buriram track. The bracing I think came loose and the gears stuck.
“I jumped into [Khun Kittipol’s] car and somehow I broke one of the ball bearings I think,” he continues. “In the afternoon the fifth gear just broke but thanks to our mechanics for working all night to get the cars going again.” He will line up fifth in Class B.
Khun Kittipol in fact now holds the ‘unofficial’ track ‘running’ record (on foot) as after the day has been completed he’s been running round the circuit as part of his training regime!
Completing Row 3 will be the Singha XO Team Eakie Toyota Altezza of Khun Kantadhee Kusiri, his best was a 2:03.718 and that leaves him well placed to challenge for the front tomorrow. But as usual he’s managing an older engine that isn’t operating at its optimum capability. Row 4 is led out by Khun Apichai Pankongchuen (Honda DC5), he enjoyed the wet conditions to post a strong result, while alongside him will be Khun Manat Kulapalanont in the #37 factory Toyota 86.
Row 5 will be an all Toyota Altis lockout as Khun Chen Jian Hong qualified ninth, one place ahead of Khun Arthit Ruengsomboon who leads out Class C after a very impressive session. Behind them comes Khun Pitsanu Sirimongkolkasem who had a tough session by his standards, he’s leading the Class B standings but will start fourth in class so has plenty of work to do.
Khun Rudolf Yu will complete the sixth row in the Painkiller Racing Civic FD. The Hong Kong driver has only recently joined up with Super 2000 but he’s settling in fast and is clearly improving quickly with every race.
Super Pickup
There were no surprises in Super Pickup. However the weather sprung a surprise, it bucketed down half way through the qualifying session and washed out the running. It didn’t matter that much as by that time Khun Pete Thongchua – who else? – had turned in a best lap of 2:03.373 and no one else could get close.
In fact his rivals weren’t even remotely close, Khun Pete had a massive 2.2-second cushion by the time the rain forced the trucks to gingerly tiptoe into the pitlane. The Parker Innovation Motorsport driver led the standings coming here and it’s going to be down to mechanical reliability as to whether Khun Pete sets himself well on the way to a third consecutive Super Pickup title by tomorrow afternoon.
Ominously, after qualifying Khun Pete reckoned he could have gone faster but the team called him in. He was happy with setup on the track. “When we arrived [the truck] was tending to drift but [Chief Engineer] Ross [Holder] made some changes and its perfect now.”
Perfect indeed. Second place, as well as first in Class B, went to Khun Pete’s teammate, Khun Phisit Netdetchathanasit in the #78 Mazda BT-50 giving Innovation a lockout of the front row.
Crocodiles lurk in the water and maybe the torrential rainstorm brought some good luck to the #46 Donut Racing Toyota of Khun Nuthaporn Namjuck, a truck that is affectionately known in the paddock as the ‘Crocodile’. He claimed second in Class B as well as an impressive P3 overall while alongside him on Row 2 will start the Chevrolet of Khun Akasit Kriengkomol. The trucks will contest three races this weekend; the first will run early this afternoon with two more scheduled for tomorrow.
Super Production
First blood went to Khun Pasarit Phromsombat in the RMI Racing by Sunoco Honda Jazz. His best lap was in 2:04.326 and that became the benchmark in Super Production. He’s in an almost dead heat with Khun Kajornsak Na Songkhla in the championship standings and with his rival qualifying fifth, the Ford Fiesta driver has plenty of work to today if he is not to see his grip on the title loosened.
Second place went to Khun Witawin Sondthiraksa (Singha XO Team Eakie Honda City) who led out the Class C runners while Khun Anusorn Asiralertsiri (Billionaire Boy Racing City) was right in the middle of a 2-3-4 on the overall grid for the ‘junior’ class with Khun Thanasit Bhunyatharanonth (Kuroki Racing ATP Motorsport Jazz) wrapped that up and that was despite quick repairs being required following a practice accident for the yellow #39 car.
Behind Khun Kajornsak in sixth place overall came returning Danish driver Khun Anders Majgaard, he’s having his first race this year in the CEA Racing Honda City. Then in seventh and eighth were the Mazda2s of Khun Pete Thongchua and Khun Michael Freeman. Their lack of top end power was counting against them here – but team and drivers have not seen the track before, unlike most of their rivals, and that is also not working in their favour.
However Khun Michael, in the #55 Mazda2, was thoroughly enjoying his debut visit to Buriram. “The first thing is that you have to pinch yourself that you’re actually in Thailand as it’s brilliant here, it’s like being in Europe or somewhere,” said the Australian.
“The track’s very flat and it’s a lot different to being at Bira or Bangsaen,” he continued. We have to get experience of the car here, we’re still some horsepower behind, the Hondas are about four car lengths ahead on the straights but we catch back up on the rest of the circuit and I’m learning the circuit, they have all been here before, so yes it’s going ok.”
Right behind Khun Michael will line up Khun Piyalert Boonyakiat. He’s a top runner in the OMP Vattana Motorsport Jazz and will be looking to make up ground quickly. Also looking to make up positions will be Khun Thanapol Pruttipong, the youngster qualified on down in P13 overall but a more respectable P5 in Class B championship, which is his main target this year.
Super 1500
Khun Sorasak Saeng-xuto was the name to emerge at the top of the timesheets in Super 1500. He banged in a 2:01.327 and that was just good enough for pole. It also impressively put a Class C category driver on overall pole for today’s first race. It was close though as in fact 0.363 seconds covered the top four.
Khun Nuttapong Lertlumprasertkul was a welcome name back on the timesheets in the #41 Big Thailand Racing Car Honda EG and this driver, more recently seen in Super 2000 action, posted the second quickest qualifying time, just 0.148 seconds off pole. Third went to his teammate Khun Komkrit Lertlumprasertkul in the similar #34 entry and he was just one-tenth pace, the two lurid green cars barely separable. This pair also claimed the top two Class B spots.
Fourth went to Khun Anon Rodprasert in the Singha TT Motorsport Civic, just 0.123 seconds off Khun Komkrit. He’s another regular Super 1500 front-runner so expect him to be in the midst of the action today. Championship leader Khun Weerasak Homsuwan will lead out Row 3, but his best time was 1.541 seconds off pole, so clearly he has work to do if he wants to maintain his perfect winning record this year.
Khun Phuwarit Makmu will complete Row 3 with his Honda EK while also look out for Khun Tony Percy as he swaps his Toyota Vios for a new build Honda Jazz. The car has just been finished so is raw out of the box, however Khun Tony reports that the car is currently lacking the power of its rivals so he will be looking for a good run and to capitalise on retirements as he casts one eye ahead to Bangsaen and treats this weekend as an extended test.
Super Eco
The dominant driver in Super Eco this year has some serious competition on his hands, that was the message immediately after the ‘grassroots’ category had kicked off the long afternoon of qualifying action across every category here at 1320 yesterday. Khun Peerawat Tarantarong (KTM Garage Exedy Nitto Racing Team) was the name at the top of the times sheets after he banged in a best lap of 2:14.438 and no one else could match that time.
That gave Khun Peerawat a cushion of three-tenths of a second over championship points leader Khun Poomee Phromatham in the C-Four Motorsport Honda Brio – it also handed pole to Suzuki’s Swift, the ‘Eco’ car that convincing won the Super Eco title last year but which was overshadowed by the Brio during the Super Eco season opener at Bira in July. With Khun Peerawat not currently a serious title threat, it means that Khun Poomee will also have to drive with one eye on the points’ standings. However as he will line up on the outside of Row 1 he’s well positioned for the fight at the front.
Khun Chitipong Boombangyang will lead out the second row after he posted a 2:15.509 best lap, albeit that was seven tenths off the front row, so there would seem to be work to do for the rest of the pack to get on terms with the top two. Wrapping up Row 2 is a popular name in the paddock, Khun Naruchit Kiatmaneesri; he’s just a tenth back and he certainly knows how to fight.
Look out too for the youngest driver in the field, Khun Kmik Karnasuta. This unquestioned star of the future qualified in a strong P7 after posting a 2:16.354 best lap and he will be looking to push his way up the order. He’s will also start just one place on the gird behind the quickly improving Khun Konpichit Toyingcharoen in the #22 Krating Daeng entered Suzuki Swift.
Source. Racing Spirit
