Mitchell zooms in as event champion in Formula Four SEA C’ship
RESULTS
Race 1: 1. Daniel Cao (Chn) 20:20.008, 2. Aaron Love (Aus) 20:20.437, 3. Ugo de Wilde (Bel) 20:23.087.
Race 2: 1. Eshan Pieris (Sri) 18:06.878, 2. Hibiki Taira (Jpn) 18:11.857, 3. Daniel Cao (Mas) 18:12.928.
Race 3: 1. Mitchell Cheah (Mas) 21:51.717, 2. Daniel Cao (Chn) 21:52.099, 3. Aaron Love (Aus) 21:53.501.
Race 4: 1. Kane Shepherd (Tha) 20:07.456, 2. Ugo de Wilde (Bel) 20:08.932, 3. Aaron Love (Aus) 20:09.045.
Race 5: 1. Ugo de Wilde (Bel) 20:13.912, 2. Hibiki Taira (Jpn) 20:13.968, 3. Mitchell Cheah (Mas) 20:15.624.
RACE 6: 1. Kane Shepherd (Tha) 20:17.455, 2. Hibiki Taira (Jpn) 20:18.526, 3. Daniel Cao (Chn) 20:23.638. PETALING JAYA: Malaysian newcomer Mitchell Cheah raised local cheers when he was crowned the event champion in the Formula 4 South East Asia (SEA) Championship fuelled by Petron at the Sepang International Circuit.
At each event of the one-make championship, in recognition of his performance over the six-race weekend, a driver is crowned event champion.
The event championship title is scored on reverse points. This means that every race winner gets a point, second gets two points and so on. The overall winner has the least points overall.
A total of 13 drivers from around the world took to the challenging Sepang track over the last three days in the hopes of clinching the event champion’s title.
The 19-year-old Mitchell scored a breakthrough win in Race 3 and managed to tie with China’s Daniel Cao on 23 points.
Daniel also had a race victory but Mitchell won the tie-breaker based on the fastest lap he did in the last race.
Mitchell also scored his second podium after finishing third in Race 4.
“I didn’t expect this at all. I thought that it was just going to be a six-race weekend. My goal was just to get the best results possible and I was delighted to learn that I was the event champion,” said Mitchell, who won the Malaysia Championship Series title last year.
Two-time event champion Daniel was just
inches away from the trophy.
“I was so close to taking the trophy. I need more experience and I’ll do better next time,” reiterated the Shanghai-born driver.
Kane Shepherd from Thailand came in third overall with 26 points, followed by Japan’s Hibiki Taira with 28 points.
Formula 4 SEA will return to Sepang for the final event of the 2017-18 season and the dates will be announced by the promoters.