Bangsaen reverberates to racing engines for delayed Super Car showdown
The Super Car Thailand 2011 season has finished on a high note after a two-month delay to the Bangsaen Thailand Speed Festival, the glittering crown jewel of the racing season. This year’s extravaganza, when it finally took place, had a bit of everything to keep the large crowd glued to their seats, as intermittent rain spiced up the action and there seemed to be even more door-to-door action and crashes than usual.
The big boys took to the track for the Super Car showdown with all the titles to be decided on the unforgiving streets of this fishing port. Back after a near-two-year break was Vuttikorn Inthraphuvasak in his rapid Porsche. With further development to the sports car in the intervening period, they remained the driver/car combination to beat, and he took two wins out of two – although he was forced to work for it in race two after the factory Toyota Altis of Nattavude Charoensukhawatana got the jump on him from the start, the crowd on the edge of their seats as the two frontrunners battled it out on-track.
Invasion Motorsport arrived on the scene in 2011, and the big Kiwis proceeded to really shake things up. However, the delay to the Bangsaen fixture meant that championship points leader Dwayne Carter had to ship his Ford Falcon back to New Zealand for the start of the V8 series there – meaning he went into the final round still at the top of the standings, but without a car. A borrowed ‘drift’ machine allowed him to collect a few points for turning up on the grid but it would not prove to be enough, as two solid drives from Nattavude proved enough for him to chip past Dwayne and steal away the title. Craig Corliss in the other V8 Falcon had a difficult week. In Wednesday’s wet second practice on totally unfamiliar streets he hit the wall at high speed. However, his mechanics worked round the clock to straighten the V8 monster out, although he was forced to miss qualifying. In Saturday’s opening race, Craig was in fine form in the hot and dry conditions, storming through the pack from the back on the opening lap before a second meeting with the wall bent the Falcon beyond any hope of repair in time for Sunday’s second race.
Flying Dutchman Henk Kiks made it two wins out of two in Super Retro in the supercharged ‘bumblebee’ B-Quik Porsche 944, a superb effort seeing as a new engine only went in on Monday! Another strong effort came from Japanese driver Aki Asai, he took his first victory in the naturally-aspirated class in Sunday’s final race. That was enough to see him wrap up that title.
In the Super Pickup Championship, a well-deserved debut overall win went to Michael Freeman in the MC Parker Racing Team Mazda BT-50. Focused from the start, the determined Australian also claimed his first pole before controlling the pace at the front to record a lights-to-flag victory in Saturday’s race.
In Super 2000, Jack Lemvard had already wrapped up the title by the time he pitched up in Bangsaen. Jack is currently winning everything he touches in Thailand and he made it two wins out of two in the OMP Vattana Motorsport Honda Civic to round out the season in some style, although not before mixing it up and entertaining the crowds with his exuberant driving style, often on two wheels. He also led his team’s challenge in the Endurance race, adding another victory, with Thanapol Pruttipong alongside, to a successful weekend.
Despite the long delay to the fixture, this year’s event was a huge success with the grandstands packed out all weekend, excellent organization, plenty of entertainment for fans and families in the sprawling activity village, exciting races in almost every category, a fresh influx of overseas drivers and teams, and a swathe of key titles that were only settled at the final chequered flag.
by Edd Ellison / Ph. 083-800-5-800 / Email: edd@interfuture-media.com
