It’s not often you get 4 new champions across a racing series but that’s exactly the nail-biting action served up by the Vios Challenge as part of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival as it wrapped up Season 6 the last weekend at Sepang International Circuit.

More than 10,000 spectators and 4 million online viewers tuned into the final two races of the Season which also marked the debut of the new Toyota Vios in full race trim ahead of its use in Season 7 in 2024 and up to 2027.

Race 1

In the Super Sporting Class, Axle Sports' Naquib Azlan dominated the 20-lap race to lead from start to finish ahead of Prima Pearl TD Racing's Tengku Djan Ley and Laser Motor Racing's Putera Adam.

However, a post-race penalty saw imposed with a five-second penalty, relegating him to third.

Putera Adam, who is in contention for the overall Super Sporting title, appeared more conservative than usual.

“My goal was just to collect as many points as I can and by my calculation I’m now just 3 points behind championship leader Mitchell Cheah going into tomorrow's final race," said Putera Adam.

In the Rookie Class, karter Ariff Azmi took the win ahead of Nazmir Azlan and Elson Lew. This leaves Ariff, together with Lew and Iman Danish, all in contention of the overall title going into Race 2.

Television host Ezzrin Loy drove the all-new third generation GR Vios Challenge race car to a 6.8-second win, followed by actor Zizan Razak and actress Ahirine Ahirudin. The win kept Ezzrin’s mathematical chances of winning the overall title alive although Zizan has a comfortable points lead.

A red-flag in the Sporting Class on Lap 13 due to an incident on track brough the action to a halt but resumed behind the safety car with two laps remaining. Panglima City Racing Team's Kenneth Koh claimed victory, finishing 0.2-second ahead of Axle Sports' James Russell while Super Evergreen Motorsport's Muhammad Amirul Haikal claimed third. However, Amirul was served a post-race penalty, promoting 23 Motors' Abdul Migail to third.

Race 2

Starting with the Super Sporting Class for elite and professional drivers, the drama continued right until the last corner of the last lap in the 20-lap race. Laser Motor Racing’s Eddie Liew started from second on the grid and took the lead from start to finish, crossing the line just 0.2 seconds ahead of Prima Pearl TD Racing’s Tengku Djan Ley. Telagamas Toyota's Freddie Ang finished third.

Fans were expecting a battle up front for the overall Super Sporting title between Prima Pearl TD Racing’s Mitchell Cheah and Laser Motor Racing's Putera Adam, both going in level on 69 points. That battle failed to materialise with Cheah edging Adam down the field to take the overall title the RM 70,000.

The Sporting Class also shaped into a three-way battle for the overall title involving Axle Sports' Nabil Azlan, Crestmax Motorsport's Bradley Benedict Anthony and Panglima City Racing Team's Kenneth Koh.

However, Abdul Migail of 23 Motors had other ideas and dominated to finish an astounding 8.7-second ahead of Axle Sport’s James Russell and with Bradley in third position. This gave Bradley enough points to take the Sporting title.

“I finally did it in my fourth season,” exclaimed an elated Bradley, who also took home RM 50,000 in prize money.

Over in the Rookie Class, it was another three-way battle for the title. Simulator racer Elson Lew won the race ahead of karter Ariff Azmi, with another simulator racer Nazmir Azlan finishing third.

This should have given Lew the title with a single point margin but lady luck wasn’t on his side and a post-race penalty saw him handed a two-position penalty. That meant that 16-year old Ariff was awarded the race victory and 20 full points to take his total tally to 89 points and become the first karter to win the Rookie Class

Lastly, the Promotional Class was almost a repeat of Race 1's results with television host Ezzrin Loy taking his second straight race win of the weekend. Actor Zizan Razak and Hot FM radio presenter Imran Aqil completed the podium. This meant that Zizan took the overall title after three seasons of trying.

Award for UMW Toyota

UMW Toyota Motor was also honoured for its efforts in promoting motorsports too the masses with an award from the Motorsports Association of Malaysia (MAM). The Award also recognised its contributions towards the development of young and future motorsports talent.

The award was presented to UMW Toyota Motor president Datuk Ravindran K. by MAM president Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir at the end of races.

The finale of Season 6 also a myriad of activities off the track, such as concerts, meet and greet sessions with the racers, a Tempatan Fest featuring over 50 popular booths selling vintage accessories, trinkets, street wear, art & fashion as well as local delicacies.