Afiq (centre) with Nabil Jan Al Jeffri (right) and Lucas Auer.

The loss in the title race was also a bitter pill to swallow as MeritusGP driver Afiq, 20, also equalled compatriot Jazeman Firhan Jaafar’s record of 10 victories in the series achieved in the 2007 season when the series was known as Formula BMW Asia. That was also the last international single-seater title won by a Malaysian driver.

Starting from pole in all four races after dominating qualifying on Saturday, Afiq cruised to victory in Round 15, the first race of the day, to finish ahead of championship leader Auer, while Petronas-Mofaz Racing’s Irfan Ilyas, racing in the midst of his SPM exam, finished third.

Rounds 16, 17 and 18 saw Afiq top the podium again, with Nabil Jan Al Jeffri taking up Petronas-Mofaz Racing’s challenge to consolidate his third spot in the championship by finishing behind Afiq and Auer in the second and third races, before taking second spot in the final race after managing to tag behind Afiq and beat the Austrian into the first corner on the fifth lap. Nabil never looked back from then on.

For Afiq, it was a fine winning record to prove his mettle, but the Kajang-born was disappointed to lose the title by just seven points, no thanks to a troubled start to the season and bad outings in  Rounds 13 and 14 at the Buddh International Circuit in India last month.

“It was a struggle for me in the early part of the season and that made it difficult. Then when I closed the gap, we didn’t do well in India,” said Afiq.

“So, I’m quite disappointed because I know we should have won the title. We won 10 races, so we showed that we’re a really competitive team.”

It was the closest a Malaysian has come to winning the title but what remains is the fact that with the biggest line-up of drivers from the country in the series this year — with eight Malaysians contesting the JKRAS championship — the drought will stretch  to next season, when Afiq and Nabil look set to move on to higher series.