Hamad Al Fardan made a dream start to his Formula V6 Asia campaign with a double victory in the season opener at Sepang.
The Bahraini racer, who has spent the winter racing in GP2 Asia after graduating through British and German F3, dominated both races to set his marker down for the championship.
Driving for Dyna Ten Motorsport, Al Fardan led the field from pole position in race 1, but saw his early advantage wiped out when the Safety Car was deployed following for team-mate Hafiz Koh.
A slight mistake on the restart meant a hard fight over the following lap, but he soon pulled out a gap and finished over 12 seconds clear of Champ Motorsport’s Kevin Chen and Australian Ro Charlz.
“I got off to a good start but the start after the safety car went in I missed a gear forcing me to push hard to make a gap,” said Al Fardan.
In the following day’s feature race, Al Fardan was even more impressive as he again led from lights-to-flag in a dominant performance which saw him finish 16.3 seconds clear of team-mate Charlz in second. Chen ensured the same three drivers as race 1 finished on the podium by taking third.
“Racing is never easy so it was hard work throughout the weekend,” said Al Fardan. “I got the lead and kept my head down until I made a comfortable gap. There is still a long way to go in the season and everyone will be working hard to step up their game. As for me I would also need to defend my lead and hopefully go for the championship.”
Formula V6 Asia results – Round 1, Sepang
Race 1 (Super Sprint)
1 Hamad Al Fardan, Dyna Ten Motorsports, 12 laps, 25:54.989
2 Kevin Chen, Champ Motorsport, +12.698
3 Ro Charlz, Dyna Ten Motorsports, +12.965
4 Geoffrey Erik Kwong, Dilango Racing, +33.943
5 Dilantha Malagamawa, Dilango Racing, +1:25.846
Not Classified
DNF Michael Ho, Champ Motorsport, 1 lap
DNF Hafiz Koh, Dyna Ten Motorsports, 0 laps
Race 2 (Grand Race)
1 Hamad Al Fardan, Dyna Ten Motorsports, 18 laps, 36:23.666
2 Ro Charlz, Dyna Ten Motorsports, +16.373
3 Kevin Chen, Champ Motorsport, +46.598
4 Geoffrey Erik Kwong, Dilango Racing, +1:11.919
5 Michael Ho, Champ Motorsport, +1:30.228
6 Dilantha Malagamawa, Dilango Racing, +1 lap
Not Classified
DNF Hafiz Koh, Dyna Ten Motorsports, 1 lap
Championship Standings (after 1 round)
1 Hamad Al Fardan – 31pts
2 Ro Charlz – 22
= Kevin Chen – 22
4 Geoffrey Erik Kwong – 16
5 Dilanthan Malagamuwa – 11
6 Michael Ho – 6
Watch Formula V6 Asia highlights as part of Motors TV’s ‘Asian Festival of Speed’ coverage this winter.
Andy Wilkinson
International
