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.

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

The first Meritus formula car win was at the 1989 British Grand Prix when Anthony Reid (now a multi BTCC winner) won the Formula Opel Lotus series support races. Meritus went on to win European team championships and helping many of today’s top drivers.

In the early 90’s the team participated in F3 and F3000 and in 1995 expanded to Asia. Backed by Marlboro and Castrol, the team won its first Formula Asia championship in 1996, and our driver, Narain Karthikeyan became a national sports star in India. Another Meritus hero is Takuma Sato won his first formula race with Meritus at the 1999 Macau Grand Prix, we are very proud to have helped our Asian drivers achieve their F1 dreams with Takuma joining Jordan in 2002 and Narain followed in 2005.

Asian motorsport offers a very cost-effective and competitive step from karting to formula motorsport and provides all the career benefits for ambitious drivers focused on F1. The big difference is that these Asian steps are at least 30% cheaper than similar European formulae. Meritus champions have gone to win European podiums in the Renault Eurocup (Oscar Tunjo), British F3 (Jazeman Jaafar), GP3 Series (Rio Haryanto), World Series by Renault (Alexander Rossi) and GP2 Series (luca Filippe), proof of the training, coaching and competition that Meritus and Asian series provides.

The Arab/Asian owned Meritus team is headquartered in Malaysia, where Peter Thompson’s Asian partner Firhat Yuri Mokhzani manages race operations. The Arab link is via Saudi businessman Raad Abduljawad.  The successful partnership has seen the Meritus brand grow into the regions premier race-team brand, conquering Asia with 34 Asian motorsport titles in the past 15 years. Meritus.GP missed-out winning the 2010 GP2 Asia Series by one point, however we has won seven of the last eight Formula BMW team and drivers crowns. In addition Meritus has won the team and drivers’ titles in the 2007 and 2008 Formula V6 Asia Series.

Formula BMW; now Rebranded the JK Racing Asia Series

The Formula BMW junior driver development series has been a huge success. The BMW-FB02 car incorporates all the latest F1 technology and has helped many of today’s top drivers make the transition from karting to formula motorsport. Many F1 drivers are Formula BMW graduates, in fact the 2004 Formula BMW champion is now the 2011 FIA Formula1 double world champion! The youngest man yet to achieve the dream!

When BMW pulled out of Formula One, the series was rebranded the JK Racing Asia Series and continues to provide the same high-standards which BMW established, supporting Formula One and racing in Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, China, Korea and India and maybe a visit to Europe in 2012.

The JK Series is without doubt one of the best F1 junior driver development series in the world today, being part of the F1 environment provides opportunities for drivers to be linked to Formula1 teams, like the Meritus 2010 formula BMW winner Oscar Tunjo who was spotted by Lotus Renault driver development manager and is now a fully backed Gravity-managed driver.

Meritus Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals Scholarship

Meritus are proud to be associated with this prestigious event, we hope that our two-day test scholarship in a BMW-FB02 car on the Sepang F1 Circuit will help the Rotax World Champion to make a successful career move to formula motorsport.

Ends

For more information on Meritus and the JK Series please check our 2012

Drivers Guide at www.meritus.gp/sereis or contact Peter Thompson at

+601230274324 and peter@meritus.gp

Kuala Lumpur,21^st October: The Meritus JK Racing Asia Series team confirms sponsorship of the 2011 Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals. The Al Ain Raceway (UAE) hosts the Grand Finals from 19 to 26 October.  The Rotax Max Champion will be awarded a two-day scholarship test in a Formula JK Series racecar with Meritus.GP. The test scholarship will be held during January 2012 on the Sepang Formula One circuit in Malaysia.

The international CIK event is one of the most prestigious championships in the world of karting applying the Olympic spirit to an international semi-professional kart racing series. National champions from each of the Rotax classes are invited to the Grand Finals.  This year the 12th Annual World Final event will see 262 drivers from 60 countries fighting for World Titles.

Meritus.GP is one of the top Asian race organizations and winners of 34 Asian motorsport titles, including seven Formula BMW Asia/Pacific titles. The JK Racing Asia Series was formerly known as Formula BMW Asia from 2003-2008, and Formula BMW Pacific from 2009-2010. When BMW pulled out of formula racing in 2010, Motorsport Asia took over the title rights of the series and entered into an agreement with Mr Ecclestone and Formula One Management. The Series continues to support three Formula One Grand Prix in 2011 with Malaysia, Singapore and India Grand Prix on the calendar, while being a part of the Asian Festival Of Speed in Malaysia and Indonesia. The 2012 Season is expected to expand to a 7-event format with additional events in Japan and Korea.

The purpose of the JK Racing Asia Series is to provide a platform to develop young karting talents towards their ‘dream’ of Formula 1. The JK Series winner will be awarded a test with one of the leading GP2 Teams, which is just one step from Formula 1. This GP2 test will not only provide further motivation for JKRACERS to secure the JK Racing Asia Title, but will also give them an opportunity to understand what will be expected from them in their future careers.

Meritus are proud of their association with karting and, through the JK Racing Asia Series, we provide the initial step for karters and their families seeking a long-term career in motorsport.  President of Meritus.GP Peter Thompson says:

“we are happy to award the JKTEST Scholarship to the winner of the prestigious Rotax World Finals and we hope it will become an annual scholarship to promote and motivate young karters.”

Many of today’s Formula One drivers graduated from karting series like Rotax Max to the Formula BMW championship, while the 2011 Formula One double world champion Sebastian Vettel secured his future by winning the 2004 Formula BMW championship.  It is our hope that the Meritus scholarship will kick-start the career of a young Rotax Max World Champion.

For free practice, Afiq Ikhwan Yazid, and rookies Akash Nandy and  India Raj Bharath showed their strength at the challenging circuit and trying to match their car to the taste of the new Indian circuit  respectively finished with a best time of 2.04.754 for Afiq, 2.06.602 forAkash Nandy which lap was aborted because of a red flag, and 2.09.034 for Raj Bharath while guest driver Akhil Khushlani clocked a promising 2.07.513.

Despite the 32 degrees Centigrade, the qualifying session was exciting. The four www.Meritus.GP drivers finished in top ten:  Afik Ikhwan Yazid was in an interesting third position with a lap of 2.00.620. Akash Nandy finished in fifth position and Raj Bharath in tenth with 2.02.839. Guest driver Akhil Khushlani showed a higher potential than on the paper with a ninth fastest (2.02.831).

It was warm and sunny (30°) for the start of the 10-lap race that was eventful. A few dramas with a start that was aborted as a competitor did not find his starting position. The F1 starting lights distracted the drivers.  Afiq had a promising start, but pole man Auer kept his advantage and then Afiq Ikhwan Yazid felt he was hold up by team  Eurointernational guest driver Lorenzo Camplese. Then while overtaking  Afiq Ikhwan Yazid was not given enough overtaking space in the manoeuvre and he  lost the front wing with Camplese. A  few laps later Akash Nandy spun before continuing and restarting from 15^th. The energy from the start was not capitalized as Lucas Auer partially protected by his guest driver team-mate dashed from pole to podium.

The start of race 2 was strong for Afiq Ikhwan Yazid who could not progress as again he was held up by guest driver Lorenzo Camplese. Meanwhile Lucas put a big gap of.4.5’ between them. The gap was later too big and Afiq Ikhwan Yazid was after that never able to catch up with Lucas Auer the double winner of the week-end

Nevertheless an apparent disappointing result despite the team having four strong drivers ready for a taste of India. Guest driver Akhil Kushlani was the highest  finisher ( top six from a P9 start) for team www.Meritus.GP in race 1. Afiq Ikhwan Yazid managed 10thplace and Raj Bharaht P12  from a P10 start. As for him Akash Nandy ranked 13^th in race 1. However, Afiq Ikhwan Yazid was on the podium in second position. But Afiq was not the only one in the points and Akash Nandy ranked 7^th while Guest driver Akhil Khushlani finished 9^th. Raj Bharath was slightly more unlucky with a 15^th place finish.

Afiq Ikhwan Yazid commented: “I  thought I would be  pleased with these two.results in India. I just loved the smooth track. But I was unlucky with a guest competitor holding up the field. I tried to make a pass but it caused a contact in race 1. I then suffered from loosing my front wing. But we simply had no time for me to come in and change it. The following day, in race 2 my start was stronger. But again the Eurointernational team guest driver was not easy to pass and this made me loose a better position. Nevermind, I am confident for a good end of the season and I am looking forward to returning end of November on this incredible track “.

Akhil Kushlani “ I had not been racing for quite a while and I am very proud of the results. To finish sixth and ninth are a great result and I am pleased for the team and would like to thank them for their confidence in me.  With a bit more practice, I could even do better. A pity I am only a guest driver, but I am proud of my good working together with the team.”

Raj Bharat: “l had a good qualifying and I feel I have been driving well the whole week-end. However, I feel thata  12^th and 15^th results do not reflect my potential even if I am pleased to have finished the races in front of my home public and of my fans. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the two races. The grip was so perfect that I felt that the race was too short with 9 laps only. Some of us were not familiar with the start procedure used for the F1 cars. Then after that in race 1,  I touched with one of the Petronas car and that caused a chain reaction. I am just so happy especially to have done this in front of the F1 fraternity and in front of my home crowd! I was ready to repeat again a better result in race 2 at the Budd International circuit but I lost two positions at the start and after that I was understeering and my timing worsen and worsen…and I even spun. But in the end, I was able to control and  I managed to master the track that was playing games with us”

Akash Nandy: “ P13 is not what I wanted after a good start. A contact with my team-mate Akhil disrupted my race I. It was very impressive looking back, because I could have had the pole if I had managed to get my lap together. In race 2, I had a good start. I climbed to third. But I was blocked behind one of the competitors and my tires suffered so much that I started loosing grip and then positions. At least I was able to limit the damage. 7^th is not too bad in the end. But I am confident for a positive end of the season for the four last races. Now we now this track and it is great fun to be here.”

Firhat Mokzhani, Team team manager, Meritus commented: “We are disappointed this week-end for Meritus.GP, because we were well prepared and sometimes you cannot plan racing incidents. But there are four  more races to go this season for our Malaysian team. Raj and Kash performed really well this week-end. After six  wins in a row this season  that helped us reduce the points difference to the current leader we still have good hopes as everything is still open in the championship and we are very pleased with our 2^nd place finish on podium today in race 2. Compliments to our guest driver who produced  a good effort in the team. I want to congratulate all drivers and the mechanics for being so strong all weekend and let’s hope that our good fortune will continue in the remaining races when we return here end of November.”