Asian Motor Sports

With six races down and another six remaining, the Formula Renault V6 Asia reaches a critical stage in rounds seven and eight at Zhuhai in China, as five drivers remain realistically able to take overall honours.

At the moment, Ananda Mikola and Hamad Al Fardan are tied at the top of the leader board, although Karun Chandhok, Seth Ingham and the late arriving Matt Halliday are a mere three, fourteen and twenty points adrift respectively, the quintet having annexed the top five from the off.

The previous round at Sentul saw Mikola give what the spectators had come to see, fighting his way to second from the back of the grid in the first race and then converting it into an easy win in the second race to vault up the leader board while his rivals floundered on the alien circuit.

Indeed, it was a tough weekend for erstwhile championship leader Al Fardan, the Bahraini driver taking third in the sprint race and then being disqualified from the trophy event when he failed to complete his penalty for jump starting.

It was also a weekend of missed opportunities for Karun Chandhok, who has endured rotten luck this year to keep him off the top of the standings. Indeed, Chandhok has been playing catch up since his retirement in the first round of the year, but looked to be getting back to the front when he claimed the sprint race win in Indonesia. However, a drive-through penalty for a jump start put him to the back of the field, only for the Indian driver to overheat his engine and eventually retire.

By contrast, American Ingham has been the model of consistency, failing to score for the first time this year in the Sentul Trophy race. Currently fourth in the standings, Ingham goes to China determined to improve on his best of second place this season with his first win.

However, the top four are having to keep an eye over their shoulders for Matt Halliday, the New Zealander wasting no time in integrating himself in the series, despite missing the first round of the year. With one win to his name already and two solid points finishes in Indonesia, Halliday will be out to make a late play for glory in China.

Right behind him in the standings is Taiwanese driver Hanss Lin who has had the most turbulent season with two major crashes in his season so far. However, his second and third place finishes at Sepang means he remains in contention for a good position in the championship.

For Singapore’s racing hopeful, Denis Lian, his troubled start in Sepang gave way to subsequent consistent point scoring drives. At the age of 33, he is considered to be among the oldest drivers in the series but there is no lack of ambition in the former Asian Formula 2000 Champion to push him up the ranks.