SEPANG: Malaysia’s Mohd Afiq Ikh-wan closed out the inaugural JK Racing Asia Series in style by winning all four races at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) yesterday but still missed out on the overall drivers’ title.

The 20-year-old www.Meritus.GP driver was on pole for all four races and ended the season with 285 points after winning 10 of the 18 rounds.

However, Afiq was beaten to the drivers’ title by Eurointernational’s Lucas Auer, who despite only winning seven races, was consistently in the points in every round.

The Austrian scored 292 points to grab the single-seater title ahead of Afiq by only seven points.

Despite dominating the second half of the season, Afiq paid the price for his slow start in the opening six rounds where he had some bad luck on the track and some difficulty with his car early on.

“It feels great. I cannot believe it right now.

“After the qualifying we thought we would lose the championship,” said the Auer.

The Austrian started the first two races in fourth place but finished both in second, leaving him to start from second for the last two races.

He set a good pace but was not fast enough to catch up with Afiq.

Auer took some time to digest the fact that he was the champion and was calm as he got out of his car, finishing the 18th race of the year in third spot behind Afiq and another Malaysian, Nabil Jeffri.

The final race also saw Afiq creating history by claiming his fourth back-to-back win for his 10th triumph of the season.

Afiq was filled with mixed emotions about the weekend.

“I thank my team as they have done a fantastic job. Thank you to Petronas for sponsoring me,” he said.

“I am happy to have won 10 races even though we didn’t win the championship.

“We have proved that we are a strong and competitive team.

“I am disappointed not to have won the championship, but that’s racing,” said Afiq.

Nabil completed the season third in the standings with 186 points and one win.

Malaysian youngster, Afiq Ikhwan took a sensational pole position for Rounds 15 & 16 of the JK Racing Asia Series tomorrow after posting the fastest times of the day during Qualifying. The four Round Season Finale will be held this Sunday, 4th December 2011 at Sepang International Circuit.

Ikhwan of Meritus.GP set a 2:13.054 and 2:13.153 respectively, to place him on pole for the two races tomorrow. Results from Round 15 will determine grid position for Round 17 while result from Round 16 will determine grid for the final race.

“I think I just have to concentrate for tomorrow, focus and be ready to finish the races without any incidents” said Ikhwan.

“We can probably win it tomorrow. We have a good car and we really need to win all four races, so I’m really excited for tomorrow.

“Im kind of worried about the rain tomorrow because anything can happen. We will see how it goes and pray for the best” smiled Ikhwan.

It will also be a Malaysian top three on the grid tomorrow with Petronas Mofaz Racing’s Nabil Jeffri and Irfan Ilyas posting the second and third fastest times today.

“It was okay I guess with second. I am a bit disappointed because I know I could have been on pole but we will just see how it goes” said Jeffri after the session.

“I think I will be quite fast this weekend, the Petronas Mofaz team is quite strong and I think we have a chance to be on the podium.  The expected rain is going to help us quite a bit because we are quite strong in the rain. I am pretty confident for tomorrow and hope to finish first all the way” ended Jeffri.

For Ilyas the qualifying was good and he is confident of being able to maintain his pace today to be in the front. “I learnt a lot from the practice session yesterday and we learnt a lot from the car and the track is different from the rain these past few days, that’s why we have been doing a lot of data and car setup for the qualifying”.

Championship leader, Lucas Auer completes row two for both races in the Eurointernational race car whilst teammate and guest driver, Tan Wei Ron will line up in ninth for Round 15 and eighth for Round 16.

Daniel Cammish, guest driver for Eurasia Motorsport, will line up fifth in his first ever JK Racing Asia Series race. The Briton will line up alongside Hiqmar Danial of Petronas Mofaz Racing on row three.

Akash Nandy of Meritus.GP and Natasha Seatter of Eurasia Motorsport takes row four while Tan will line alongside Calvin Seibl of Atlantic Racing Team on row five.

Raj Bharath of Meritus.GP takes row five alongside Freddie Ang of Petronas Mofaz Racing, who was the only casualty of the day. Three minutes before the end of the session, Ang went off into the gravel.

Aaron Chang of Eurasia Motorsport will start at the back of the grid.

Round 15 of the JK Racing Asia Series is scheduled to be held at 8.30am, Round 16 at 11.30am, Round 17 at 2.30pm and the final race of the season at 5.30pm on Sunday, 4th December 2011.

Until this race this season Hamilton had not finished higher than he had qualified since winning the German GP, eight races ago, and he has only one podium finish in that time (second in Korea). Hamilton originally qualified on the front row for the 8th time this season in India, until he was given a penalty. His next lap in the lead will be his 100th in 2011, and he’s only 4 laps

away from leading 1,000 in his career. Hamilton has made the most pit visits of any driver this  year (51 ­ 1 more than Felipe Massa, ironically). Hamilton has been quickest in FP1 at three of the  last 5 events. He was on pole position for the inaugural Abu Dhabi GP in 2009, and retired from the race lead after 20 laps. If Hamilton finishes behind Button in the 2011 championship, he will

have raced in consecutive years with cars #1, #2, #3 and #4 (2012).

Behind him, Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari finished second ahead of Button. Mark Webber rakes a consolation fourth place for Red Bull. Webber makes his unusual strategy work to some extent, crossing the line fourth after a single lap on hard tyres. Massa ends up fifth in his Ferrari, struggling to find anything like the pace of team-mate Alonso once again. Nico Rosberg cements a solid sixth for Mercedes, with team-mate Schumacher coming home, well behind, in seventh. Sutil brings the first of the Force India cars home in eighth, just 1.1s behind Schumacher, who does not finish the race, but does not slip down the classification with di Resta ninth and Kobayashi in 10th, the only Sauber car in the points.

Team-mate Sergio Perez held on to 11th at the end, finishing 0.7s ahead of Barrichello, with Petrov 13th, Maldonado 14th and Alguersuari 15th.

It was a dramatic first lap when Vettel got a good start from pole and led Hamilton and Button into turn 1. But amazingly Vettel went off the road at turn 2 with a puncture! Vettel went wide and spun but managed to bring the car back to the pits to later retire after the team was not able to fix the damage to the left rear wheel. This is his first failure to finish since last year’s Korean Grand Prix 2010.

Lap by lap

The grid is absolutely packed and there is hardly room to move with team personnel, media and VIPs everywhere for the third Abu Dhabi grand Prix. It’s a dramatic first lap as Vettel gets a good start and leads Hamilton and Button into turn 1. But amazingly Vettel is off the road at Turn 2! Vettel goes wide and spins and brings the car back to the pits but later retires as the team was not able to fix the damage to the left rear wheel. This is his first failure to finish since last year’s Korean Grand Prix 210. Perez also has been involved in contact further down the field. He has a loose front wing.

Hamilton Leads. Behind the top seven drivers, Sutil is eighth with team-mate di Resta ninth and Kobayashi is 10th for Sauber. Meanwhile Button is the fastest car on the track 1.46.391 soon

followed by Hamilton and then Alonso in 1.46.059.

Senna came into the pits at the end of the first lap and like Perez he will now attempt to charge up the order. Kobayashi is beginning to fall back through the field. Petrov and Alguersuari have

passed the Sauber driver. He is now 13th and then goes down to 23rd. Kobayashi has rejoined the race but he will join team-mate Perez towards the rear of the field – disaster for Sauber in the early stages that promotes Kovalainen in P13, Barihello in p14 and Maldonado in P15.

Webber is up to P3 from the first part of the race after an excellent start. He passes Button and in the next lap the fight between the two will be exceptional. On lap 15, the first scheduled pit stop manoeuvres begin between Massa and then Alguersuari. Massa rejoins in eighth. Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Sutil, Schumacher are the next ones in. Hamilton rejoins in the lead and the rest in same order as Webber led for a short while the race, a temporary leader as he has yet to make a first stop in his Red Bull. Nico Rosberg is the next to stop and Webber rejoins after a very slow stop of 9.4s behind Massa in fifth place. Meanwhile, Vitaly Petrov makes a mistake, runs wide, is off but rejoins before stopping for his pit stop. On lap 18, the leader Hamilton clocks the fastest time with 1.44.921. This is the lap chosen for Petrov and Barrichello to stop and rejoin.

Two laps later, one third of the race has gone by and Hamilton is still in the lead ahead of  Alonso, Button, Massa, Webber, Rosberg, Sutil, Schumacher, di Resta and Maldonado in the top

ten. Kobayashi if P11 and has recovered from his stop. Senna pits for the second time from 12th place, as Buemi who was running rather slowly makes it back to the pits and climbs out of the car and into retirement. On lap 22, most of the drivers have pitted except Di Resta and Maldonado, Glock and Liuzzi.

Kovalainen is 14th and Lotus clearly did a great job in the pitstop phase, keeping track position over Barrichello in 15th. On lap 24, Senna takes over Glock. Maldonado refuel on lap 25. Glock and Di Resta still have not. At the back, Ricciardo spent a long time stuck behind team-mate Liuzzi, so he pitted. Liuzzi stayed out and the gap between them is just 16 seconds. Liuzzi pits this time round and Ricciardo will surely gain track position over his team-mate and take 20th.

Hamilton and Alonso lead the race. Both successively clock the fastest laps. First Hamilton and then Alonso.

Di Resta is the last one to pit on lap 27. Di Resta finally comes in for his one stop and rejoins, as Sergio Perez completes his second pit stop. Meanwhile, there is a bit of traffic for the fasts guys behind Hamilton: Button, Massa, Webber trio hit traffic as they work past Trulli’s Lotus and this allows Hamilton to not only clock fastest lap, 1.44.652 but build the gap with Alonso to 4.6s.

By midrace, the leader is Hamilton, Alonso is in P2, Jenson P3, Massa and Webber follow ahead of Nico Rosberg in P6 while Sutil is P7 ahead of Michael Schumacher and Kobayashi who has made it to the points in P9. By midrace, night has come. Two other drivers have retired after Vettel: Buemi, D’Ambrosio. Hamilton’s gap is now 5.0s. Red Bull Racing Mark Webber continues to fight against Massa and may try to make his move in the second zone to avoid the now-popular comeback move.

Williams’ Pastor Maldonado has been sentenced to a drive through penalty for ignoring blue flags. He completes the penalty. Fiercer fight in the front as Hamilton is the fastest man on the track again, pulling to a 5.6second lead over Alonso. As for him, Button sets a best personal record as well with 1.44.873. The Red Bull laps the Williams. Traffic continues to hamper the leaders. Hamilton, Alonso and Button complete their 33rd lap. With 22 laps left, Kamui Kobayashi pits on lap 33 for the second time (his first pit stop was on lap 5) and that launches other stops as of lap 34: Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber who takes soft tyres as the stewards decide of an investigation for Jaime Alguersuari, Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna for ignoring blue flag and they will be sentenced to a drive through penalty which will slow the remainder of their race.

On lap 40 Hamilton pits and switches to medium tyres. Hamilton has a very quick stop. His lead from Alonso is only 3.1. Massa is the next one to stop as Alonso is in the lead with twenty laps to

go as Hamilton rejoins in second position. Kobayashi follows his team-mate through and into 11th place, as Petrov brings his Renault into the pits. Webber passes Button for P4. On lap 43, Alonso comes back at the stands, but is slowed down in the pit lane by Daniel Ricciardo coming back in.

Hamilton responds as commanded with his personal best sectors Alonso looses the lead and rejoins behind Hamilton who has a comfortable lead. On lap 46, Hamilton is again a comfortable 5.7s away from Alonso in second as Webber is third and Rosberg went back to fourth ahead of Button Massa and Schumacher in P7. In P10 Kobayashi is ahead of Sergio Perez and came in to the points behind Sutil (P8) and di Resta (P9).

More action prepares as Button is catching up Rosberg who slows for a quick pit stop on lap 48 and finally heads in for a late change to the harder tyres. Rosberg resumes in sixth, just

ahead of Massa who has spun away a lot of time with an off at Turn 1. Webber has climbed to third at this stage, behind Alonso. Ten laps before the end, in the top ten, Hamilton, Alonso, Webber, Jenson Button, Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg Michael Schumacher, Adrian Sutil, Paul di Resta, Kamui Kobayashi ahead of his team-mate – a ranking that Button will disrupt to also make it to the podium. Alonso and Massa will make it 2nd and 5th. Nico Rosberg is the strongest of the Mercedes cars and Sutil and Di Resta will also bring the two Force Indias in the points.

With a second American Formula One race now slated for the US shores (Austin & New Jersey), Autosport magazine in England makes no bones about the fact that there is a “NEED FOR A (US) HERO” on the starting grid. It is a proven fact that Formula One thrives in countries when they have national pride wrapped around the event. There is nothing quite like having one of your own competing against the best in the world.

Autosport has identified just TWO American drivers with that potential; Conor Daly and Alex Rossi (enclosed). The headlines clearly state that “F1 keeps pushing to crack America”. If there are no significant American drivers competing in these events, history tells us that the interest in America will wane after the novelty and curiosity of the early years.

The British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) proudly boasts of their “Rising Stars” financial support program in addition to sponsorship for young drivers and consequently they draw 25,000 more spectators (as per BRDC) through the gates of Silverstone for the British Grand Prix because of the presence of Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button. Consider if each fan spends $200 over the course of the weekend, that equates to a $5M return on that weekend alone. If these two race for 10 years you can see that the Brits truly understand that investing in their future stars pays dividends.

There is a need for an American HERO in Formula One and the very future of both Formula One races starting in 2012 depends on it. If the young drivers are not supported and do not succeed, neither will the races.

race in four different categories (DD1- 32.6 horsepower engine, Junior Max 20.4 horsepower, Senior Max – 28.5 horsepower and the DD2 Masters – 32.6 horsepower) in the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals at the Al Ain Raceway.

After winning the 2010 event, 14-year-old winner Emirates-born Edward Jones won the Meritus.GP prize of a free one-day Formula BMW development test at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. This year, the winner will be provide a two-day scholarship test to train in the Meritus.GP car competing in the JK Racing Asia Series which has just returned from competing at the first ever Grand Prix of India at the Buddh International Circuit.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA Vice President and President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE is thrilled that the event has returned to Al Ain after the emirate first staged the race in 2007 and commented: ” I am happy that Meritus have again taken this significant step because it sends the right signals out to the youths, that talent will be recognized. It is important to encourage young talent from the grass-roots, and karting is

where the sport begins”, Sulayem said while welcoming Meritus’ initiative to now fund a two-day development programme for upcoming drivers at the Sepang circuit in a Meritus.GP car.

Peter Thompson, President and team founder of Meritus.GP said: We have an in-house motorsport responsibility programme and we are delighted to support His Excellency’s initiative and to encourage young UAE karters. We are the only truly Middle East team that offers all the steps on the motorsport ladder from karting to the doorstep of F1 and we have a responsibility to find and educate young karters and their families in their transition to formula motorsport and we are proud to support Al Ain Raceway and encourage young drivers from the UAE to take up the sport.

It was what could only be described as a superb weekend for Klarich, a clean sweep of all the heats in addition to qualifying first in the 1 lap dash by three tenths placed the 16 year old in firm positioning for a victory and the impending test drive to take place at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. Some minor changes were made to the Super Rooster Lenzo Kart that recently claimed 3^rd in the CIK Stars of Karting Series for the Pro-Junior category meant that yet more speed was found for Jake.

The Perth teenager stated, “the Super Rooster Lenzo Kart was on song in Kalgoorlie, we made a few little changes all weekend and it took off.”

Following these minor tweaks, and riding an enormous wave of confidence, Jake then drove through to storm the field in the final to eventually claim victory by 10 seconds, truly displaying the talent that has been attributed to him across the season which also saw two round wins in the CIK series. Already with 5 WA State Karting Titles and 1 NSW State Karting Title to his name, this opportunity to compete in what was formally known as Formula BMW Asia will be a strong move for Klarich into the direction of International open-wheel racing that he is striving to achieve.

Klarich added, “we are very happy with the result and I am looking forward to driving with Team Meritus in Malaysia,” further stating, “to have the opportunity to drive this car is an amazing feeling and i will be working hard before it so i can go there hoping to make a good impression.”

“A big thank you to the team, Lenzo Kart Australia, Super Rooster Toowoomba, Condo Cartage, MI Construct, Bowra Signs and A and R Klarich Transport and Earthmoving,” Klarich concluded.

ENDS