Hayden Haikal was in top form last weekend as he drove to back to back race wins in the Super Eco Class of the Thailand Super Series, and clinched a hard-fought 3rd place in the GT4 Class race at the Bangsaen Street Circuit last weekend.
Celebrating his 20th birthday on the same racing weekend, Hayden’s pace around the 3.7km circuit went literally unmatched as he qualified fastest, went on to win both races and also set the fastest lap time during the race in his V-Are Pro Garage Racing Team Suzuki Swift.
“I really gave it my all, and once in front it was a case of just pushing as hard as I could to the finish. I never let up,” said Hayden who finished Race 1 some 13.9 seconds and Race 2 4.2 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
Pulling double duty and then jumping into the Malaysian team Racing Aurora Mercedes-Benz AMG GT4 car, the young man had his sights on winning at Bangsaen but the one-hour Race 1 was cut short and brought out the red flag due to an on-track incident which placed him 3rd. In race 2, Hayden was again fighting for the lead but midway through, back marker traffic veered into his racing line sending him off line into the barriers, essentially ending his race.
“We had the pace to win both races, the car felt great and my confidence around Bangsaen was at an all-time high. Race 2 was very unfortunate and rather than risk anymore damage to the car, the team and I decided to retire.”
For younger brother Aaron, his first time competing in a street circuit also yielded his fair share of trials and tribulations. In Race 1, the 16-year-old was the biggest gainer having shot his way up from starting 14th on the grid to finish 7th and also earning himself 2nd in Class on the podium.
Driving for the Thai-based Pipekids Pakelo Lubricants Racing Team, he was again running as high as 7th in race 2 amongst the main pack, but had to make an unscheduled stop due to a broken driveshaft to his Honda Brio sedan.
“All in all it was a very challenging race weekend. The team was only able to get in 15 minutes of practice before the qualifying session began. And qualifying didn’t go all that well for me when I found myself caught in traffic and finished 14th quickest from a grid of 34 drivers. “
