After a brilliant opening round 24-hours prior, the 2024 TCR Asia Series, teams backed up at Malaysia’s iconic Sepang Circuit with a second reverse-grid (top eight) 12-lap race, which despite the modified grid delivered a very similar result and with just as much fire from the drivers.
Third during the opening round, Hyundai N by Z. Speed driver Doyun Hwang looked to be in the box seat. Starting from outside pole, he took advantage of Nan Jiang’s slow getaway to lead down into turn one, further extending his advantage as his team-mates Max Hart and Zhendong Zhang worked their way through the field from the fourth row of the grid.
Sadly for Hwang, despite his mighty start, he’d actually positioned the car on the grid outside of his grid box, earning himself a 30-second penalty as a result. That saw some extra motivation from the South Korean driver who charged across the opening laps, extending his advantage to more than four seconds by the close of the opening lap.
From there very little separated the three team-mates, the very same trio that dominated the opening race running away from Umar Abdullah in the Delta Garage Racing Team Honda. Hwang led every lap of the race whilst behind him, Zhang did everything he could to unsettle Hart, the pair of them locked in combat just as they had been during the opening round, but despite Zhang’s pressure, Hart was up to the job. By the chequered flag the pair had closed to within two seconds of Hwang, crossing the line nose to tail, Hart declared the winner, Hwang’s penalty dropping him back to fourth.
For Abdullah, he endured a lonely race, but was credited with third, whilst behind him, the fight for a podium in TCR Cup was on in earnest, Benny Santoso, Haojie Yang, Dypo Fitramadhan, Nan Jiang and Qiren Liu never more than a few car lengths apart. Fitramadhan earned himself a visit to the stewards after contact on lap four, the Delta Garage Elantra making a late dive inside Liu into the final corner, the two making contact, spinning Liu in the process.
Budiyanto was the next driver in trouble, the JVS Group Racing Team Audi consistently locking the front tyres – turn four his nemesis, the Indonesian driver pressing on until lap seven, ultimately bringing the car to a stop on the outside of turn five.
Ultimately the top spot in TCR Cup was taken by Benny Santoso in the fourth of the Hyundai N by Z. Speed Elantras, giving the Shanghai-based team a clean sweep of both divisions to open their 2024 TCR Asia Series account in perfect fashion.
Haojie Yang recovered from a tough opening round to claim second in TCR Cup, joining Santoso and Fitramadhan on the podium – Nan Jiang and Qiren Liu rounding out the finishers.
With the opening two races of the ten round season in the books, Hyundai N Sport by Z. Speed’s Max Hart leads the points, with team-mate Zhendong Zhang just three points behind, the pair comfortably clear of Umar Abdullah in the overall classification.
Rounds three and four of TCR Asia will see a return to Sepang Circuit in just over a month (07-9 June), before back-to-back rounds in Thailand at Chang International Circuit in Buriram in August and September.
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Grid Race#2:
1 JIANG Nan (CHN) – Z Speed Motorsport – Hyundai Elantra N TCR*
2 HWANG Doyun (KOR) – Hyundai N by Z Speed – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
3 Benny SANTOSO (INA) – Hyundai N by Z Speed – Hyundai Elantra N TCR*
4 Budiyanto (INA) – JVS Group Racing Team – Audi RS3LMS TCR*
5 Umar ABDULLAH (INA) – Delta Garage Racing Team – Honda Civic FL5 TCR*
6 Dypo FITRAMADHAN (INA) – Delta Garage Racing Team – Hyundai Elantra N TCR*
7 ZHANG Zhendong (CHN) – Hyundai N by Z Speed – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
8 Max HART (IRL) – Hyundai N by Z Speed – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
9 LIU Qiren (CHN) – Z Speed Motorsport – Hyundai Elantra N TCR*
10 YANG Haojie (CHN) – Z Speed Motorsport – Hyundai Elantra N TCR*
11 Jonathan XIE Boyu (MAS) – Z Speed Motorsport – Hyundai i30N TCR*
Race#2 (12-laps):
1 Max HART (IRL) – Hyundai N by Z Speed – Hyundai Elantra N TCR – 12-laps
2 ZHANG Zhendong (CHN) – Hyundai N by Z Speed – Hyundai Elantra N TCR +0.545
3 Umar ABDULLAH (INA) – Delta Garage Racing Team – Honda Civic FL5 TCR +18.499
4 HWANG Doyun (KOR) – Hyundai N by Z Speed – Hyundai Elantra N TCR +28.081#
5 Benny SANTOSO (INA) – Hyundai N by Z Speed – Hyundai Elantra N TCR* +42.919
6 YANG Haojie (CHN) – Z Speed Motorsport – Hyundai Elantra N TCR* +51.129
7 Dypo FITRAMADHAN (INA) – Delta Garage Racing Team – Hyundai Elantra N TCR* +52.061
8 JIANG Nan (CHN) – Z Speed Motorsport – Hyundai Elantra N TCR* +54.598
9 LIU Qiren (CHN) – Z Speed Motorsport – Hyundai Elantra N TCR* +58.939
DNF. Budiyanto (INA) – JVS Group Racing Team – Audi RS3LMS TCR* – 7-laps
DNS. Jonathan XIE Boyu (MAS) – Z Speed Motorsport – Hyundai i30N TCR* – 0-laps
# 30-second penalty, outside grid box at start
*TCR Cup
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Drivers’ Classification (after two rounds of ten)
1. Max Hart – 85-points, 2. Zhendong Zhang – 82, 3. Umar Abdullah – 61, 4. Doyun Hwang – 58, 5. Dypo Fitramadhan – 47, 6. Benny Santosa – 41, 7. Qiren Liu – 31, 8. Nan Jiang – 28, 9. Budiyanto – 24, 10. Haojie Yang – 21
Cup Drivers’ Classification (after two rounds of ten)
1. Dypo Fitramadhan – 80-points, 2. Benny Santosa – 72, 3. Qiren Liu – 57, 4. Nan Jiang – 55, 5. Budiyanto – 42, 6. Haojie Yang – 37
Teams’ Classification (after two rounds of ten)
1. Hyundai N by Z.Speed – 167-points, 2. Delta Garage Racing Team – 120, 3. Z.Speed Motorsport – 90, 4. JVS Group Racing Team – 27
Car Model of the Year (after two rounds of ten)
1. Hyundai – 167-points, 2. Honda – 65, 3. Audi – 31
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2024 TCR Asia Series – calendar
RND#1 -03-05 May, 2024 – Sepang, Malaysia
RND#2 – 07-09 June, 2024 – Sepang, Malaysia
RND#3 – 23-25 August, 2024 – Buriram, Thailand
RND#4 – 13-15 September, 2024 – Buriram, Thailand
RND#5 – 11-13 October, 2024 – Ningbo Speedpark, China
RND#6 – 14-17 November, 2024 – Guia Circuit, Macau (non-Championship)
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