10/10 Wins for New 420R Champion: Supersport Championship Down to the Wire
This weekend saw Daim Hishammudin win ten out of ten races to become the 2017 Caterham Motorsport Championship 420R champion, whilst Halim Mu’Azzam secured his second Supersport championship.
The first race of the day was yet again filled with bumper-to-bumper exciting racing at the Sepang International Circuit.
Daim Hishummudin secured his first Caterham Motorsport championship with another dominant lights to flag victory. This makes Daim the youngest Caterham Motorsports champion ever.
Tan Pye Sen tried his best to keep up with Daim but couldn’t get to within 8 seconds of the Singaporean.
Arnaud had a lonely race as well, finishing third in the 420R class, but received a 10 second penalty for over shooting his grid sport and having to reverse back before the start.
Supersport championship contender Ivan Petev got off to an extra early start by jump starting by a lot, resulting in a ten second penalty.
From that point on it was 10 laps of pure racing battles for the Supersport class with Halim in the lead, Sidqi trying everything to pass him, and the rest of the field exchanging places a few times a lap, between Ivan Petev, Malcolm Chang and Shirendra Lawrence.
After a spin on lap 2 Shirendra spent the rest of his race fighting with Sheran Fernando at the back of the field.
It was great racing in the Supersport class, with drivers pushing each other to the limit. Turns 9, 14 and 4 were the favorite places to pass, often three cars abreast through those sections.
But it was Malcolm Chang who made the break from the pack in the second half of the race, and kept position to cross the line in first, with Ivan Petev forcing himself through the pack to finish a close second, less than 0.100s in front of Sidqi Ahmad.
RACE 2
The final race of the year was one where everyone wanted to finish on top and better before.
Daim’s closest rival – Arnaud Dupuis – got off the best start in his 420R storming off into the lead keeping the young Singaporean in second place as third place runner Pye was close on their heels and eventually taking advantage of the close battle and stealing the lead on lap 3.
The Supersport championship was still in contention with Ivan having to win the race with championship leader Halim having to finish fifth or lower.
Shirendra, making amends for his poor first race, had a strong start pushing his way into the top three from last place on the grid, and as Pye and Daim exchanged the lead in the 420Rs, it was Sidqi fighting Malcolm for the lead in the Supersports.
Halfway through the race Sidqi overshot Turn 1, leaving Malcolm to storm off in the lead and win the race, while Shirendra and Ivan fought it out for second.
It was a tense battle watching Ivan fend off Shirendra and try his best to catch Malcolm for the win, whilst Halim battled midfield.
But Halim had made it to third place whilst Ivan could only settle for second behind Malcolm.
Daim produced another strong drive moving ahead further from Pye in the closing stages of the race to cross the line first, with Arnaud taking the third step on the podium.
It was a sensational year for Daim Hishammudin winning all ten races he competed in, becoming the youngest Caterham Motorsport Champion.
“Race 1 went pretty smoothly, taking the lead early and managing to pull away during the race,” said a jubilant Daim at the end of the day.” “Race two I was having problems with the clutch so I didn’t get the start I wanted to. After that I was able to catch them and push through to the lead. It was a very very good battle with Pye, exchanging places for three or four laps, until three laps to go I think he made a mistake, and I managed to build on that.
“With ten out of ten wins it’s been a great championship, very close racing. I nearly didn’t make it ten out of ten, but I’m very glad, very thankful and blessed to have achieved ten out of ten wins.”
Halim was the strongest Supersports driver, winning his second Caterham Motorsport Championship: “This was probably the most exciting and closest season I’ve raced in the Caterham Motorsport Championship. Coming down to this final weekend, I just had to keep cool and make sure I finish high in the points. It’s been a very fun season, and I’m looking forward to next year.”
The 2018 Caterham Motorsport Championship has an early start by joining the Asian Le Mans Series in February. Stay up to date with all the latest developments, galleries and videos on our Facebook page and website.
