It was a good clean race for the Asian Touring Car Series in Bira with Jack Lemvard claiming another win at his home race and further extending his already big lead in the Championship challenge. “First I would like to thank my team for working all night to get the car ready because the containers arrived late. I would also like to thank my sponsors, Ocean 1, Liqui Moly and everyone that supports me. “The start for me today was not my best but I managed to hold it down the first corner and I knew if I come out of it I will be first. I’m one to two seconds ahead of the second placed driver so I just held my pace from there on” said Lemvard during the post race press conference. Should the Liqui Moly Team Engstler driver win the next race, he would have collected enough points to claim the Championship win ahead of the season closer. “Now we are really far ahead in terms of points for anyone to catch up and I think if we win the next round we would officially be Champions. There will be a big party tomorrow to celebrate that” he concluded with a big smile. Taiwanese driver, Chen Jun San, driving for Buddy Club AAI, made a great return to the series with a second placed finish ahead of newcomer to the series Alvaro Murato of Macau for Division 1. “I think both Jack and I did not get the best of starts but it was an okay race and it was not too difficult for me. Bira Circuit is my favourite circuit so I really enjoy racing here. “Since the BMW is so much faster than my car, all I did was figure out what would be the best setting for a better race tomorrow. I was pretty much running on my own” said Chen. Murato started the race from ninth on the grid and managed to gain a few positions to claim his first podium in the Series. “The circuit is too short and it just takes a minute to complete a lap, so it takes more skill than speed to be able to do well here at Bira. I tried my best. It was not too hard of a race but it was just too hot in the car”. Most of the action of the day came from two Division 2 drivers, Hong Kong racing legend, Danny Stacy Chau and Malaysian first time ATCS competitor Harry Chai. The duo kept an ongoing battle from the start of the race to cross the line almost side by side in the 20 lap race. In the end, the Team IMSP driver’s track experience allowed him to maintain his position ahead of Chai, all the way to the chequered flag. “I’ve been racing here since 1986 so I know the circuit well. Harry has the faster car for sure but I have more experience on this track. Although he has the faster car, his time was not as fast as mine but after a few laps behind me, he learnt my lines which is why he managed to catch up to me. This will be a problem tomorrow” said Danny Chau with a laugh. For Chai, trying to outfox the race legend had its benefits “I had a really good start. I tried to catch Danny but he is really good with his lines and I couldn’t find a way past. He has great experience here so I actually learnt a lot from him. He is really a good driver. I also would like to thank my sponsors, S&D Motorsports for preparing such a great car for me”. Another Malaysian driver, Eric Yeo, driving for ThunderAsia Racing, finished the race in third. Yeo started the race behind Adrian Henry D’Silva and Man Ting Yu, but managed to make his way past after Man encountered engine trouble which ended his race and D’Silva made a mistake on lap 2. “I started in seventh and had a good start. Man and Adrian were in front of me and I think Adrian was holding Man off while I was looking for an opportunity but couldn’t find a way past. Then Man went wide so I overtook him and then on lap 2 Adrian made a mistake and I got him. After that I just kept my pace, the Championship points are the most important thing” said Yeo. Prepared by Motorsport Asia Ltd.
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