Thunderstorm caps action packed Pro Racing Weekend at Bira

October 6, 2012

The Pro Racing Series 2012 revved into Bira Circuit for its penultimate round of the year last weekend and it was action non-stop as teams and drivers focused on starting the final run in for titles; but the weather played its hand over and over again with intermittent rain all weekend which culminated in a huge storm halfway through Sunday’s curtain lowering Pro Truck race.

Ironically, the weekend had kicked off for many competitors on Friday with a circuit test day and the weather then was warm, dry and sunny; it was though to prove to be no clear pointer to the weekend which got underway on Saturday morning with ominous clouds overhead. The Pro Car and Touring Car runners got their qualifying in before the heavens opened on the stroke of midday as the XO Super Junior 1500/1600 cars were pounding the track.

The session was briefly red flagged, but the rain eased off and the runners came out again. Light rain fell again during The Pro Truck qualifying session for Class A and B, however it stopped and the Class C runners came out onto a drying track. With the lap times tumbling, the weather had caused its first upset of the weekend as the Class C runners were mixed right into the top 10 when the clocks stopped.

When qualifying shook out it was Keattipong Thienprayoon, who came into the weekend with two straight wins, who had posted the best time overall in 1:25.057, a cushion of almost three seconds, but 5 of the top 10 on the grid would be Class C runners meaning there would be some frantic action at the green light. Top runners Michael Freeman, Jaras Jaengkamolkulchai (the championship points leader) and Pete Thongchua, would start 10th, 11th and 12th.

The delay to the Junior qualifying pushed the program straight into the first race which was for Pro Car. The rain continued to stay away but the action got underway on a still relatively damp track. At the front Hathai Chaiwan (#46 Mitsubishi) made a good start from the outside of row 1 and built several car lengths on the polesitter and wet weather specialist Kajornsak na Songkhla (#4 Ford Fiesta) by the end of lap 1; and he proceeded to extend that lap by lap. ‘Boy’ hauled the gap back for a while but Hathai simply controlled the pace and eventually ran out with a 14 second cushion at the chequered flag.

Behind Boy the real excitement of the race was a tense three way battle for third that erupted between the Honda Jazz’s of #69 Chatpol Jaemvijit (‘Arty’), #49 Guy Boonhan Hopkins and #23 Thanapol Pruttipong (‘Terng’) in the closing stages. Both Arty and Terng made tardy starts, losing 5 and 4 places respectively, but it was Guy who shone in the wet, he went from his 11th starting slot to 3rd in just 3 laps, revelling in the conditions. The top 3 runners spread out early; however by lap 5 Arty had closed up to 4th and Terng to 5th and the pair proceeded to reel in Guy.

With a handful of laps remaining the trio of Jazz machines were virtually nose to tail and that was the story to the final turn where Guy lost traction on a wet patch, allowing Arty to sneak through and take third by just 0.056 seconds with Terng chasing them across the line as the trio were all covered by just 1 second.

Guy however still won his class, a superb drive, and he pointed to the rain afterwards as the separator. “I go well in the rain,” he said, “the car works well in the rain.” However he added that “we are short of rain tyres, but I hope for rain [tomorrow]. Terng meanwhile, had clung tightly onto the battle for 3rd, but was stymied by his #23 machine. “I have engine problems,” he said afterwards, “but we hope to fix [them for] tomorrow.”

A few places further back was Ploy Tachapann, she’s busy impressing on her switch to cars this year and turned in another strong race in the wet conditions in her RMI run Jazz. “It was raining and I don't really like wet track,” said the 15 year old, “but I finished the race and end up with third position [so] I [am] happy with it.”

In Touring Car Pattarapol Vongprai in the orange and white Saint John Mary International School sponsored Civic FD had claimed pole by just 0.054 secs from Luiza Blastoff (#5 TMB Civic FD), but two of the expected pace setters, Kantasak Kusiri (#34 Civic FD) and Jack Lemvard (#44 Civid FD) would both start from the back after neither posted a qualifying time.

Pattarapol got away cleanly to lead the pack away, and built up a 3-4 second gap within 2 laps. The real drama though was at the end of the pitlane as Jack’s mechanics struggled with a faulty battery and failed to get the yellow and white Civic FD to fire up in the pitlane. Meanwhile, Bank started slicing his way through the field: he was up to 7th by the end of lap 1, by lap 3 he was 3rd and then past Luiza into 2nd one lap later.

Lap 5 saw the Safety Car deployed after incidents with Ekprawat Petcharak (#9 Civic) and Apichai Pankongchuen (#41 DC 5) who were closing in on Luiza; the was former out on the spot, the latter rejoined in 12th place.

When the Safety Car was called in 3 laps later Bank darted into the lead, one that he wouldn’t relinquish to the chequered flag while on lap 12 Pattarapol had a big moment on the uphill to the IRC bridge, bouncing off the tyre wall but emerging almost unscathed to rejoin in 6th place which he made 5th three laps later.

By now there was a clear dry line and that shakeout allowed Luiza to climb to second place which he proceeded to hold to the flag, finishing with a 9.554 secs deficit to Bank, while Apichai turned in a very strong recovery drive to climb back to third by the end of the 18 lap race and cross the line just 1 sec behind Luiza.

While Bank is cruising to a successful title defence, Jack's season is just getting worse. After failing to complete a single qualifying lap in Super Car’s S2000 category here three weeks ago it was the same story in PRS. "The engine blew in qualifying, just went on the uphill section,” said Jack. “I missed another qualifying session, [the] team changed the engine but we had a battery problem and couldn't start.”

There were a few spits of rain on the grid as the XO Autosport 1500/1600 runners lined up but the surface remained mostly dry as they took the start though a couple of cars ran wide out of turn 1 and a hectic first lap ended with #4 Wissarut Prangthong in the lead and by lap 2 that was up to 3-4 seconds.

From 11th on the grid #33 Naruchit Kiatmaneesri climbed to 2nd in just 3 laps and proceeded to lock in on Wissarut, passing him on lap 8. However Wissarut was back in front on the next lap and that’s how it stayed to the chequered flag, with the gap eventually widening to 5.317 secs.

There was a damp track in store for trucks, but Keattipong wasn’t headed as he led from lights to flag to make it three consecutive wins in PRS as the rain continued to hold off. However that was short lived as (along with two other competitors) he was disqualified for being underweight which handed the victory to Waris Onrayab (#99 Isuzu D-Max) who had finished a comfortable 11.260 secs ahead of ‘Boy’.

Of note Pete (#17 Mazda BT-50) battled up to 6th before a big off track moment coming out of 100R. He proceeded to make all the ground back before suffering a tyre deflation at 2/3rds distance. “It was wet out there, I could feel that on the warm up lap,” said Pete afterwards, “I came up to 7th chasing hard [on lap 3] but it was still wet in the big Sweeper and I spun. The car was safe and I started to chase again.”

The spin dropped Pete to 12th at the end of lap 3 but by the time he came across the start/finish line again he was back inside the top 10 and pushing hard. Pete moved up to 7th on lap 6 and 6th on lap 9 but his race was to be over on lap 10. “It’s disappointing,” said Pete, “but we are competitive and have to live with it.” However he had done enough to set a very quick race lap and bag a front row starting slot for Sunday’s Race 2.

Two places behind Pete, and also of note, was Mana Pornsiricherd. The truck star continues to suffer a torrid season. After terminal engine problems in Super Truck last time out his team worked hard to prepare the car for the PRS weekend, but knocking noises in the morning’s opening practice session necessitated an unscheduled engine change and he sat out qualifying with the bright yellow #59 Endless Triton in a sea of parts.

Cobbled back together hastily, Mana started the 15 lap race from the back and in a real demonstration of his unquestioned talent, he hauled the distinctly out of sorts machine through the field to finish 6th overall.

The first day wrapped up with free practice runs for the Singha Classic Car field with Alfa Romeo, BMW, Mini, Ford and Mercedes-Benz all involved. Of note was the invitational appearance of ‘The Doc’, Iain Corness, who was making his debut in PRS behind the wheel of his rebuilt Ford Escort which was last seen dramatically rolling at Kaeng Krachan earlier this summer.

Sunday started overcast with rain threatening but the ominous weather held off as the programme got underway with quick fire warm up runs across the classes.

The afternoon’s races kicked off with the first Singha Classic Car round of the weekend and a front row lockout for the BMW E30s of Painkiller Racing, Oou Naputt planting the orange example on pole and the team dominating the race which also included a trio of Alfa Romeos and a brace of Mercedes-Benz's. Victory at the end of a tense race went to Rudolf Yu from Oou Naputt, after what turned into a runaway 1-2 finish for the Painkiller BMWs. The gap between the pair at the flag was just 0.070 secs.

XO Super Junior’s second race of the weekend was a carbon copy of the first as #4 Wissarut Prangthong and #33 Naruchit Kiatmaneesri filled out the top two spots. There was plenty of bunched up three abreast action on lap 1 with Wissarut leading the snarling pack round but with Naruchit all over him.

Naruchit squeezed past on main straight at end of lap 1 but Wissarut had the line for the first turn and fended him off, momentarily breaking his rival’s challenge as Wissarut then pulled out a couple of car lengths by the end of lap 2. However that quickly changed, the duelling pair closed up and it was side by side into turn 1 once more with Naruchit getting his nose ahead for the second time. Wissarut, though, had the driving line again and he hauled out a gap on lap 2 that eventually increased to 7.518 secs by the end of the 12 laps.

On to Pro Car. Terng was on pole and Arty alongside to make it an all-Jazz front row, but it was the old hands, Hathai and Boy, who pushed through from the second and third row respectively to lead the field through the first lap. Arty slipped to third and Terng to fourth and with Guy fifth, it was in danger of becoming a carbon copy of yesterday’s race.

The race was flagged after #50 red Toyota Vios slid off out of the final turn on lap 11 bouncing across the wet grass and along the wall for 200m down the main straight leaving a wake of debris behind it.

As the cars slowed Hathai sealed a second win of the weekend with Boy following him home. Behind them Arty claimed third to make it an unchanged top three from the previous day. Guy however slipped down to 6th overall, four tenths behind pole sitter Terng who was struggling with his car. “I [was] on pole position when started the race,” said the Vattana youngster, “[but] my car isn’t complete yet [and] it [has] many things to improve, so [in] race two I did my best. So let’s see [an improvement] in [the] next race,” he added.

Ploy also had a second strong race of the weekend; forced to fight for position in the Jazz dominated midfield. “It [was] hard to overtake Ken because he’s got a lot more experience than me,” said the youngster of her race. “But somehow I just use my brakes [to] overtake him in first corner which made me finish second.”

Ploy has come a long way in half a season in cars and she has a good team right behind her. “I want to thank my supporters, my sponsors Waxy, VVP 4x4 Center, RMI, RTM and Yokohama,” she said, “and my parents, my coach Aun and Ken and my team, Revspec Service and RMI Racing Team.”

In Touring Car’s second race Patthavit Payakkaso (‘Bankie’) in the #69 Honda City led away from pole, quickly pulling out several car lengths over Bank and Apichai. However after the gap grew, Bank slowly reeled him back in and took the lead on lap 8. It wasn’t to be another routine win for the runaway championship leader though as he coasted to a halt 4 laps later. At the same time Luiza passed Bankie for the race lead and held it to the finish of the 18 lapper, the pressure easing further as the latter dropped steadily backwards, the deficit eventually climbing to 9.177 secs at the flag.

All in all a rewarding weekend for Luiza, runner up in the first race being topped by victory in the second. “The races were awesome both on Saturday and Sunday,” he said afterwards. “I’ve been driving well for both races but not as fast as Bank and Jack [but] on the other hand it would have been more fun if those guys finished the race on Sunday.” An all round team effort, says Luiza, “I have to thank for my team and the crew that made the car [in] such a good condition [to] win the race, and the sponsors, Singha, TMB Bank, and PTT.” With a confidence boosting weekend under his belt, Luiza adds: “I hope it will be more fun in the next race.”

Behind the blue and white #5 machine, Apichai took full advantage of Bank’s race exit to claim third, just a second and a half off the City driver. After his DNF on Saturday Ekprawat recorded another strong finish to claim fourth overall.

Jack started from the back for the third consecutive race (counting Super Car’s S2000 race two and a half weeks ago) and for the third consecutive race he mounted a real fightback drive. From 20th on the grid he was up to 12th at the end of lap 1 and 5th by lap 5.

The disappearance of #3 Hathai Chaiwan a lap later put Jack right onto the tail of the Luiza-Bankie-Bank battle for the lead, but once again bad luck kicked in on lap 8, just as the top positions swapped round. Suddenly, Jack was plummeting down the order and out of the top 10 a lap later. “An [electrical] plug wasn’t tight, so it was on/off on/off; then I just decided to stop because there wasn’t any point for me [to] keep on running,” he said afterwards.

Another zero points score from the weekend as his season to forget just doesn’t get any easier. The only positive for his fans is that Jack should soon be seen back behind the wheel of the Vattana Porsche Cup racer in Super Car before too long, and with a fresh 4.2 litre engine.

Also worth a mention was the red #27 Honda S2000 of Visarut Saelim (‘Jazz’). After dropping in a supercharged powerplant to make his Super Car debut two weeks ago his mechanics had swapped back to his normally aspirated engine and software for last weekend’s PRS event. Jazz claimed an 8th place overall in Race 1 and a DNF in Race 2, now its time to swap again as the next Super Car round looms in just over a week’s time.

One face missing from the Touring Car action over the weekend was The Pizza Company’s Tony Percy in his Civic EP3, he’s now taking a step backwards to consolidate. Also missing, and narrowing the team’s participation in the PRS down to just one entry (in Pro Car), was its newest driver, Alan Lewis. He sustained some damage in the team’s recently rebuilt Honda DC 5 during the pre-race test day after missing the apex a little in S1 which was unfortunately enough to put him on the sidelines for the weekend. The Pizza Company’s lead driver Thomas Raldorf said: “Alan had done very well and steadily improved his lap times and become very competitive in his Class C, so it’s a shame he will be out of action this weekend.”

The day had wound up to the thrills and spills of Pro Truck and Michael Freeman powered the #55 Mazda BT-50 into the lead at the green lights after a perfect getaway with team mate Pete Thongchau in the #17 tucking in behind and riding shotgun.

After 4 laps the storm that had been predicted all day finally announced itself and the first spots of rain starting falling, the track becoming slippery over the next few laps. Pete and Mike had swapped positions on lap 3 and the new race leader started to pull out an advantage. “I knew the rain was coming so I tried to get as big a lead as I could,” Pete said afterwards. The two Innovation Motorsport drivers continued in 1-2 formation until lap 9 with ‘Boy’ having held third since the green lights.

By lap 10 is was raining heavily and Boy picked off Mike for second with Waris, who had started third but dropped back to sixth, also coming back into the frame. Waris scrambled past Mike and on the final lap before the red flags were waved he squeezed out Boy to finish second.

After 12 of the 15 laps, Pete had timed it perfectly with just over 2 seconds in hand while Boy was a further 2 seconds back. Mike came home forth to deliver the team points; significantly the points leader coming here, Jaras, finished only 11th while in form driver, Keattipong, was only 6th to add to his no points score in Saturday’s race.

One truck not to reach the chequered flag was the distinctive black and orange #95 CheetahTech Triton of quick lady racer Pusita Supattanakul (‘Wan’). She’s having a tough season, after being caught, blamelessly, in the midst of the multiple truck pile up at Kaeng Krachan last time out.

However she posted a very solid finish on Saturday in a truck she described as being a long way from sorted but dropped out of Sunday’s race on lap 6 with gearbox problems. Wan doesn’t particularly enjoy racing in the rain either and is looking forward to drier weather.

That was the end of the action as the circuit reverberated to thunder and lightening, with the final race of the day, for the classic cars, unable to be considered; likewise the podium celebrations were postponed. The fourth and final PRS round of the 2012 season takes place at Bira at the end of this month.
by Edd Ellison / email: [email protected] / Ph: 083-800-5-800