Wet races and drama marks Toyota Gazoo Racing Vios Challenge Season 4 opener

Racing is finally back on the menu as the Toyota Gazoo Racing Vios Challenge kick-started its fourth season at Sepang International Circuit over the weekend (26th - 28th March 2021). 

And what a season opener it was - further dramafied by wet races and drivers who, as always, were not afraid to go all out. 

TGR Race Classification - New rookie class

For those of you tuning in to this series for the first time, there are four classes: Sporting, Super Sporting, Promotional, and new for this year, Rookie class.

Like their names suggest, Promotional class is populated by local celebrities (and also Akio Takeyama, UMW Toyota's Deputy Chairman); professional and elite drivers compete in Super Sporting class while amateur racers participate in the Sporting class.

Also read: Investment Where It Matters - TOYOTA GAZOO Racing's contribution to Malaysian Motorsports

The Rookie class meanwhile fields drivers from the Gazoo Racing Young Talent Development Program - some as young as 14 years old.

Now that we've cleared that up, let's take a look at the results.

Day 1 - Wet races to start

Heavy rain in Sepang delayed the start of the race by about ten minutes, but hey, the wet conditions added to the drama. Starting off the races were the Super Sporting & Rookie classes, both sharing a grid.

Snatching first place in the Super Sporting class was Tengku Djan, racing for Prima Pearl Auto. Coming in second place was Syafiq Ali from M7 Japan Project Team, and in third place was Speedaddix's Hayden Haikal.

Meanwhile in the Rookie class, 20-year old Naquib Azlan finished first, while Amer Harris and Mika Hakimi rounded off the top three.

Zizan Razak started off his weekend strong, winning the first Promotional class race. Akio Takeyama finished second, while Ahirine Ahirudin completed the podium.

Rounding off Day 1's races were the Sporting class. Crestmax Motorsport's Adam Khalid stormed to victory, while Clement Yeo and Eric Yong came in second and third, respectively.

Day 2 - Dry but no less drama

Nary a drop of rain on the second day, with the races starting off with the Super Sporting class. Clean sweep for Tengku Djan as he also won this race, coming ahead of second-placed Boy Wong and Laser Motor Racing's Mark Darwin. 

As before, the Rookie class raced alongside them. Naquib Azlan went on to win again, followed by 18-year old Jwan Hii in second and Amer Harris in third place.

The day's second race was the Sporting class, in which victory was clinched by Haji Sutan Mustaffa Salihin. In second and third place respectively were Eric Yong and Crestmax Motorsport's Adam Khalid.

The Promotional class rounded off the weekend. Textbook driving from Zizan Razak sees the actor once again winning, while singer Khai Bahar finished in second, ahead of Ahirine Ahirudin. 

Catch the re-runs here

If you'd like to see what exactly went on, here are streams of the races:

But wait, there's more!

We had a couple of other activities to be excited about - just before the races, UMWT invited us to take the Toyota Vios GR Sport and the Toyota GR Yaris out for a spin!

Also read: Review: 2020 Toyota Vios GR-Sport - The ride and handling champ in class

Jason had a blast wringing both cars around the track, as well as hooning the angry Yaris around a gymkhana course.

Also read: The brilliant 2020 Toyota GR Yaris in Malaysia - not for those with outdated ideas of cars

How did that go down? It's every bit as expected - lots of noise and smoke. It's a video you won't want to miss, so stay tuned for that on our WapCar Plus YouTube channel!