AFIQ BAGS SECOND LAMBORGHINI SUPER TROFEO ASIA TITLE
Malaysian continues red-hot form to bag second straight title
PETALING JAYA: Afiq Ikhwan Yazid is doing a fine job flying the Malaysian flag high.
The Malaysian driver has claimed a second straight overall title in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Series with one round to go following a rewarding weekend at the Shanghai International Circuit in China.
The 25-year-old partnered Italian Kei Cozzolino to win Race 1 on Sunday to wrap up the championship chase with an unassailable lead of 154 points.
Afiq took over from Italian teammate Kei Cozzolino after the mandatory pit-stop at the halfway mark to go on and win the 28-lap race in 51:39.768.
There was more joy for their team Clazzio Racing as Afiq returned with Cozzolino to finish second in Race 2 later in the day in 51:30.704.
Afiq partnered Japan’s Ochia Teshayuki to drive for Team Lamborghini Osaka in a successful title-winning campaign last year.
There are two more races in the season finale at Imola, Italy, from Nov 16-19 – with 32 points at stake.
However, their closest rivals – the Lazarus team’s PolandBritain combination of Artur Janosz-Toby Sowery, can only finish runners-up at best as they are in second spot with 110 points after the fifth round in Shanghai.
“Winning the overall title this year is sweeter as we beat the Lamborghini factory’s main entry of Patrick Kujala-Dennis Lind (Spain-Denmark) to win Race 1 despite wet and tricky conditions.
“They drove for Emperor Racing and were the 2016 Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Finals winners.
“The pressure eased up after we secured pole position for both races in qualifying and we knew the overall title was in the bag as long as we finished on the podium,” said Afiq.
The Malaysian-Italian pairing have been on a roll this season – winning eight out of 10 races so far.
They finished second in Race 1 but won Race 2 in the opening round at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia in April before posting their first double for the season at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand, in May.
Afiq-Cozzolino also chalked up double wins in the next two rounds in Japan – in Suzuka (July) and Fuji (August).