And so we move to Malysia were it was all change at the top again. A third winner in as many races…

So after much upset at the previous round in Melbourne we arrived at Sepang with an 17 strong field and lots of emotions running high. Absent was previous race winner and runner up David Dominguez and Muhammed Patel and in their place were several other drivers. Rowland GP had entered into fray with namesake lead driver Nick Rowland, Nocture e-Sports had entered the series with Tom Eley and GRIDline’s continous driver merry-go-round brought Frenchman Michael Folcher to the table.

In qualifying it was quickly established that the race for the chequered flag would contain four main protagonists. Eley had taken pole by a small margin over Folcher with championship leader Jan-Mortiz Kammann sitting pretty in third ahead of Rowland. Lauren Vaisman was the only other driver within a second of pole, such was the pace. Behind there was an almighty scrap over the rest of the points places however. Benjamin Chong had managed a GPO best 6th ahead of Drazen Cokor, a career best for Rizwan Sarwar, Keith Doherty, Ari Kesseli, Mihaljo Vincentijevic, Brian Oates, Heinz vanderhoydonk and Jordan Norwood, all covered by just three quarters of a second. Ben Ross and Scot Beck were equal at the back a further half second off with newcomer Brandon Warren rounding off the grid.

At the lights however Tom Eley got a great getaway to take charge of the lead while Nick Rowland popped into second from Folcher. Kammann had a poor start dropping behind another lightening start from Cokor and a superb opening lap from Keith Doherty who found himself fourth after lap 1! Nick Rowland was in fiesty mood however and snatched the lead from Eley on lap 2, only for Eley to serve just desserts and retake it back the following lap. Much to Rowland’s annoyance, Michael Folcher and a recovering Jan-Moritz Kammann, already disposed of Doherty and Cokor, were now hot on his tail. Folcher was through on lap 8 and then Rowland had to make an unscheduled stop a few laps later dropping him out of contension.

This however had released Folcher free and he attemped to reel in Eley who had tyre wear issues. It was a great battle of cat and mouse that eventually Eley would win with a strategic wing angle change at the first stop. Tom Eley had a fastest lap over four tenths faster than the rest and with that new wing angle, he was able to drive comfortably and keep the car out of trouble for an impressive win on debut for Nocture e-Sports. Folcher however would not be out of the woods as Kammann began eating into the Frenchmans lead like a tubby guy on an all you can eat dinner and the question would be could Folcher hold second. Michael did, although it was by a much slimmer advantage than he’d have liked. Jan-Moritz Kammann was back on the podium in third with a much more together outting than in Melbourne and gave himself the best damage limitation possible after a slow start. He made up his positions on the track and that’s the sign of a potential champion.

Fourth and once again unlapped was a delighted Drazen Cokor. He benefitted from Rowlands problems and after a lengthy 16 lap battle passed Keith Doherty to hold the position. Cokor has been notching up the points and is looking very much like a man on a quest for a top 5 in the championship at this rate at the very worst! Keith Doherty had impressed greatly to claim 5th. A man known for bad luck and bad connections, his race was composed, thoughtful and precise. His start to 4th from 9th was amazing and he is putting a strong case forward for future races. Laurent Vaisman came home 6th after a valiant effort. He’d dropped to 9th at the start and passed guys on the track, and through early pitstops on his first stint to claim the place.

Benjamin Chong’s 7th came as something of a relief that a race had somewhat to plan. The speedy American had a batism of fire in the opening rounds but came through to claim a haul of points and get his 2010 season off the ground. Mihaljo Vincentijevic had not had the race pace he’d shown in previous rounds and had to be content with 8th after spending most of the race battling with Brian Oates and sliding passed Ari Kesseli in the dying moments of the race. Ari Kesseli was only 9th due to pitting for a front wing when he went off all by himself. No doubt kicking himself, two points are stil welcome for the popular Finnish driver. Rounding off the point scorers was an under the weather Brian Oates who’d combatted a heavy cold to come home 10th for the final point admitting he’d made too many mistakes and lost time where he shouldn’t have. It did however keep his 100% point scoring running very much alive and that is an impressive stat.

Scott Beck was 11th and two laps adrift. His race pace had not been the quickest but he’d kept it on the black stuff and been more consistant than Ben Ross who once again made it home for OrangeTech. Both drivers had fought hard, with Beck running in the points for the first half of the race. The retirements were few and far between although no less upsetting. Rizwan Sarwar, plagued with connection issues was in with a sniff of 10th until he disconnected with 8 laps to go marking three retirements in three starts. Nick Rowland crashed out at half distance while trying to make back places after his early pitstop and thus ended a promising debut. Jordon Norwood had his longest race to date in 2010 before he also binned his Deletraz BMB 12 laps in. Brendan Warren and Heniz Vanderhoydonck were out early on with technical issues.

Jan Kammann then had showed he was certainly no one race wonder, but once again we had challengers coming to face him. Just who would have the last laugh in the final race of our Pacific rim trilogy? Find out tomorrow…

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