Victory for SJM Theodore Racing in Sepang!
The Macau-based team extends its advantage ahead of Sunday's second race.
Sepang's two races offer an opportunity for the team to clinch the Teams series title one round early.
EVENT DATES: 5 - 7 September
Sepang 6th September
Asian motorsports team SJM Theodore Racing has taken its sixth win of the season in Sepang, Malaysia after a controlled drive from the early moments of lap one.
Macau's Charles Leong took the flag at the end of 50 minutes of racing around the 5.4km former F1 circuit to take the flag 7.9 seconds clear of their nearest rival to take the top spot for the sixth time in nine races and continue the team's run of finishing on the podium at every race.
Alex Denning started the race from second on the grid and challenged the pole sitter around the outside of turn one. That gave him the inside line for turn two and the Irishman scythed through to take a lead which they would maintain all the way to the finish line.
Denning carefully managed the gap to a squabbling pack in the early laps and then set about increasing the team's advantage all the way to the mandatory pit stop to hand over to Chales Leong.
The Theodore Racing Lamborghini Huracán was 3.224s seconds ahead when Denning peeled into the pit lane and Leong resumed with 22 minutes remaining behind a seven cars which had yet to pit. As they made their way to the pit lane, Leong gravitated to the front of the pack with a 15 second lead
Charles Leong
“The race was amazing. It was a very tough one from my side as I'm quite sick at the moment. But the car feels good. Everything runs the way we want it. It's a good car, good balance and overall I just need to keep recovering my body for tomorrow's race and hopefully I can bring out an even better performance. And yeah, huge thanks to SJM Theodore Racing again for the car.”
Alex Denning
“I'm super happy with that.I would say it was probably my best stint of the year. I had my mind made up after I got pole taken away from me for a track limit that I was going to be coming out of Turn 1 in P1 no matter what.And yeah, it was just like from the start, lap 3, we were just saving tyres, which I think was very crucial to our pace in the second half. Charles was just super consistent which tells me he was also managing tyres excellent and yeah textbook stuff really happy and one step closer to securing the championship tomorrow.”
Teddy Yip Jr., Team Principal – SJM Theodore Racing:
“That was a hugely impressive performance by the team. Alex was fast and incisive at the right moments and Charles did a truly superb job of managing the tyres in the second stint. Given how ill he was yesterday, it's a real tribute to his fighting spirit. The job is half done and the team will retain its focus for race two tomorrow.”
Qualifying
Alex Denning recorded the second fastest time in qualifying for race one with a fine last lap save. The Irish driver had earlier posted a sensational time, fully six tenths of a second faster than the next best driver across the two sessions of qualifying only to have the time deleted for a minor track limits infraction which was estimated to have gained him less than a tenth of a second. In the end, having cooled the tyres for a second run, his final lap on the slightly used tyres was still good enough for second place on the grid just .014 of a second away from pole position.
Charles Leong took the wheel of the number 32 car for the second qualifying session, shrugging off the debilitating effects of a full day dealing with food poisoning. The Macau native was quickly up to speed and posted a time good enough for pole position, an heroic response in the wilting heat and humidity of the Malaysian venue. It's Charles's second pole position of the season and puts the SJM Theodore Racing at the front for Sunday's race two.
Race Format
As always, the weekend format includes two 50-minute races with a mandatory driver change, following Friday practice and Saturday morning qualifying. Race 1 gets underway Saturday afternoon, with Race 2 on Sunday.
After Inje, the championship concludes in September before at Misano, Italy during the Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Finals event where SJM Theodore Racing will continue to fly the flag for Macau on the international stage.
