Ben Panic takes the overall win at the Malaysian Open Championships with JConcepts.
Malaysian Nationals Round 5 – RCC Glenmarie, Shah Alam – Malaysia November 10th – 11th 2012
The final round of the Malaysian Nationals was held this weekend and not only was it the final race of the series but it was the final race at the famed RCC track in Malaysia. Alvin Lam is completing a new facility, which drivers will get to enjoy in 2013. The final round would send the track off in style. The series was all tied up with 3 drivers aiming to be champion.
Ben Panic (Kyosho/Novarossi/JConcepts), David Lim (Kyosho/OS/AKA) and Daniel Law (Losi, Orion, Sweep) were all tied on points in the best 3 of 5 race series so this final round would prove crucial in deciding the champion.
110 drivers attended the fifth round of the Malaysian nationals, with guest appearances from factory Team Associated driver from Australia Jason Dyckhoff and compatriot Jacob Wilson.
4 rounds of qualifying would be run on Saturday with finals on Sunday Christmas tree style.
In qualifying Jason Dyckhoff (AE/OS/AKA) would emerge with TQ. Jason and Felix Tan (JQ/GO/AKA) both had a chance at TQ but rain halted qualifying in round 3 and Jason ended up on top. The championship contenders were playing it safe and making sure to secure semi spots. Ben in 3rd, David 5th and Daniel 7th. It was clear these guys had one thing on their mind – Sunday afternoon and the final. Semi B was dominated by Felix and he drove away from the field never challenged, in second Wenyi (Mugen/OS/AKA) from Hong Kong was well clear of the rest of the drivers. Semi A was stacked with Jason, Ben, David and Daniel, it would prove to be a faster semi and David took the win from Jason.
The final was set with all the championship contenders in play; it would be a battle to the end with David, Ben or Daniel crowned the champion. The horn sounded and the field attacked the back straight, David got caught up with others jostling for position as did Felix and Ben. Jason led closely followed by Daniel for the first couple of minutes. As the drivers settled in to a rhythm Ben passed David and made his way through to 3rd at the 5 minute mark. By the first round of pitstops it was Jason followed by Ben and then Wenyi. Jason and Ben clicked off some stunning laps consistently in the 38-second bracket lap after lap. The first 15 minutes set up the rest of the race. No mistakes or bobbles by Ben or Jason which saw them drive away from the pack. By the 25-minute mark they were lapping the field and had put everyone down a lap including 3rd place David. Unfortunately for Daniel he had dropped back and was not going to be a contender for the win this weekend.
As the clock passed the 27-minute mark Ben was gaining on Jason, the 15-second gap was dropping but Jason was controlling the gap as best he could. 2 minutes later Jason rolled and the car flamed as the marshall picked it up, Ben shot through to the lead and did not hesitate in clicking off a string of 38-second laps to further increase his lead. With 2 stops to go and the win and national title in his sights Ben continued the consistent fast pace putting the field another lap down. Felix in second place was ready to pounce if there were any issues but the Kyosho driver closed out the win and put the title beyond doubt. The race ended with Ben taking the win with Felix in second and David in third. Daniel ended up twelfth with radio issues late in the race.
The winner’s trophies were presented, Jason took home TQ honors and then the Malaysian Open Championship was presented. In first place was Ben Panic (Kyosho/Novarossi/JConcepts), second went to David Lim (Kyosho/OS/AKA) and third was Daniel Law (Losi, Orion, Sweep). David also took the top Malaysian position for the local champion.
