Round 1 of the Vios Challenge produced an exciting afternoon of close and hard-fought battles on the track with the young guns in the drivers’ roster firing an early warning on the grid for Season 5 of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival at Sepang International Circuit.

The action on the track in all four classes of racing, the Super Sporting Class for elite drivers; the Sporting Class for amateurs; the Rookie Class for young drivers and the Promotional Class for celebrities was incredibly intense from start to finish and not short of incidents with the top contenders having to dig deep for a place on the podium. The door-to-door skirmishes had all the makings of a youth against experience battle for the remaining races to come in the season.

Race 1 in the Super Sporting Class saw Hayden Haikal of Axle Motorsports clinch victory. Although barely out of his teens, Hayden is an established name in the series and a consistent performer. Second went to Freddie Ang of Telagamas Toyota with Eddie Liew of Laser Motor Racing completing the podium.

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In the Sporting Class, Hayden’s teammate in Axle Motorsports; Naquib Azlan, clinched victory for dominating performance by the outfit. Tom Goh in the S&D Tama Motorsports car came in second ahead of Bradley Benedict from Crestmax Motorsport.

Over in the Rookie Class, Nabil Azlan led the charge to take the win followed by Sharique Zulqarinain and Muhammad Hamdany Abdul Hamid.

Lastly, Zizan Razak made his intentions clear in the Promotional Class by taking the win although Shukri Yahaya was a close second. Rounding up the podium was Ahirine Ahirudin.

The next day saw all the excitement on track once again for Race 2. In the Super Sporting Class, veteran driver Eddie Liew got off to an incredible start from 4th lead the 20-lap race from start to finish. The battle for second and third was super intense with no less than five drivers in contention, providing a big enough distraction for Liew to extend his lead. Mitchell Cheah of Prima Pearl TD Racing Team and Freddie Ang won the intense battle for second and third respectively after the drivers ahead of them all had major contact and couldn’t complete the race.

In the Rookie Class for young drivers, 18-year-old Sharique Zulqarinain rounded up his racing weekend with a double podium finish, with victory in Race 2 and a second place in Saturday’s Race 1. Finishing second was 20-year-old Muizz Musyaffa. Securing third in both Race 2 and 1 was 19- year-old Muhammad Hamdany Abdul Hamid.

The Sporting Class also produced its fair share of drama on the track but at the end of the 20-lap race, it was Crestmax Motorsports Bradley Benedict Anthony who was declared race winner with Panglima City Racing Team’s Kenneth Koh and 23 Motors’ Abdul Miqail in second and third places respectively.

The battle of the celebrities in the Promotional Class saw actor Shukri Yahaya clinching victory, also his second visit to the podium following Race 1’s second place finish. Fellow actor Zizan Razak however, was the man to watch in the race as he clawed his way up from last place to finish second in the 18-lap race. Presenter Nabil Ahmad rounded up the top three podium finishers.

Round 2 of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival and Vios Challenge race series is scheduled for June and Toyota hopes that it will once again be able to safely invite the public, after two seasons of the event being held behind closed doors due to the pandemic.

Season 5, Round 1, Race 1

Super Sporting Class
1. Hayden Haikal - Axle Motorsports
2. Freddie Ang - Telagamas Toyota
3. Eddie Liew - Laser Motor Racing

Sporting Class
1. Naquib Azlan - Axle Motorsports
2. Tom Goh S&D - Tama Motorsports
3. Bradley Benedict - Crestmax Motorsport

Rookie Class
1. Nabil Azlan
2. Sharique Zulqarinain
3. Muhammad Hamdany Abdul Hamid

Promotional Class
1. Zizan Razak
2. Shukri Yahaya
3. Ahirine Ahirudin

Season 5, Round 1, Race 2

Super Sporting Class
1. Eddie Liew - Laser Motor Racing
2. Mitchell Cheah - Prima Pearl TD Racing Team
3. Freddie Ang - Telagamas Toyota

Sporting Class
1. Bradley Benedict Anthony - Crestmax Motorsport
2. Kenneth Koh - Panglima City Racing Team
3. Abdul Miqail - 23 Motors

Rookie Class
1. Sharique Zulqarinain
2. Muizz Musyaffa
3. Muhammad Hamdany Abdul Hamid

Promotional Class
1. Shukri Yahaya
2. Zizan Razak
3. Nabil Ahmad