It was only a matter of time before Malaysians Amer Harris and Naquib Azlan claimed the top spot on the podium in the Thailand Super Series GT Class, and they did so in their Wing Hin Motorsports Toyota GR Supre GT-4 in only their fourth race. Victory was made even sweeter on home ground – at the PETRONAS Sepang International Circuit this morning (8 September 2024).
After two consecutive second place finishes, the young Malaysians had looked on course to clinch their first race win on Saturday (7 September 2024) having led the race from the midway point but a prolonged pit stop released second driver Naquib rejoining the race in 4th position and with too much of a gap to make up.
The two young Malaysian drivers had finished second on their debut in the GT4 class in Race 1 of Round 3 of the series when it was held in Malaysia in August. Race 2 however, was cancelled due to rain and was only rerun on Friday (6 September 2024) during Round 4 where they again finished in second place.
Amer and Naquib also posted blistering times around the 5.543km PETRONAS Sepang International Circuit to qualify on pole position for Race 1 of Round 4 – their first ever pole position – but had to settle for 4th position.
Starting Race 2 of Round 4 from 4th on the grid, Naquib who started the race this time, paced himself to the front of the GT-4 contenders and together with a combination of race strategy and a faultless pit stop, paved the way for Amer to rejoin the race to power the Wing Hin Motorsports Toyota GR Supre GT-4 to victory. They finished 5 seconds ahead of Nanin Indra-Payoong and Kazuhisa Urabe from 2W Zoomies in a second Toyota GR Supre GT-4. In third wplace was AAS Motorsports; Vutthikorn Intraphhuvasak and Kantadhee Kusiri in a Porsche 718 Cayman GT-4 RS Clubsport.
“Race 1 of Round 4 placed us on course for a strong finish, especially after staring from pole position and leading the race, but due to the regulatory added compensation time, our pit stop was longer than the other drivers which placed us at a disadvantage despite our earlier strategy. We tried something different both in term of pit strategy and to the set-up of the car in Race 2 and it paid off handsomely,” said Wing Hin Motorsports Team Manager K. C. Chua.