KCMG withstood several challenges in Malaysia and took three podiums in Formula Pilota’s stirring 5th event at Sepang International Circuit last weekend. Singly represented by British driver Dan Wells this time out in Sepang, KCMG defied hurdles and proved that the team still stands as a strong contender for the championship title in the Asian series.
The world renowned F1 circuit remained foreign to Wells until he arrived in Sepang last Thursday. During the practice sessions, Wells finished 5th fastest in Practices 1 and 3 and 7th in Practice 2. Steadily focused to take the championship lead from Eurasia’s Antonio Giovinazzi, the British racer worked progressively with the team, adjusting the car’s set-up to properly suit him on the circuit.
Saturday morning’s qualifying sessions were considered as further learning grounds for Wells. As he became more familiar with the technical sweeps and turns of the circuit, Wells pushed hard to produce strong results in qualifying. Wells secured 6th place in the first qualifying session, followed by 5th place in the second session.
While the weather became unpredictable in Sepang, the team geared up for wet and dry set-ups for the first race. As it rained right after qualifying, the drivers battled it out against each other on a wet circuit. Starting 6th on the grid, Wells drove into 2nd position by the second corner and had the fastest time for 3 laps. Unfortunately, Wells lost his position as the circuit dried and came home in 3rd place – taking another podium for KCMG.
Wells returned to Sepang the following day with expectations to take the championship lead from Giovinnazi. With his sight set on this goal, the VISA Global Logistics and BAM Motorsport Promotions-backed driver focused on studying the data gathered during the practice and qualifying sessions with his race engineer, Andrew Winsall.
In Race 2, Wells finished 3rd and took KCMG’s second podium for the weekend. During Race 3, Wells was off to a flawless start as he went from 5th to 2nd position by the first corner and finished 2nd place after an amazing drive. KCMG gathered three podiums last weekend and maintains 2nd position in the series’ overall standings despite Wells’ challenges at the Sepang circuit and with the team running one car over the race weekend.
Wells is pleased with the outcome of his recent outing in Malaysia and is looking forward to do more tests on the Sepang circuit before the championship’s final event in December. Wells beams, “I’m very proud of the job that we have done this weekend. Coming to a circuit that we’d not seen before, and making constant improvements to score 3 podiums out of 3 is a fantastic result against such strong competition. I’d like to thank VISA Global Logistics, BAM Motorsport Promotions, and KCMG for making this possible and look forward to coming back here next month where we will see a good step forward now we have experience of this great Formula One circuit.”
KCMG Deputy Managing Director John O’Hara reflects that the team has learned a lot over the past weekend and believes that this Sepang outing is just a preview of a more exciting final event for KCMG in December. Although satisfied with the results that the team has produced over the weekend, O’Hara still hopes that victory and the championship title will be achieved next month. “The team has worked so hard to be in this position at this point of the season. I am proud of what Dan has accomplished in Sepang despite his unfamiliarity with the circuit. He came out here to race without any prior testing before Thursday. Everyone did a good job and we’re all looking forward to the final race in three weeks. We’ll be running three cars and I am maintaining my optimism, we’re still in to fight for the championship title.”
The final event of Formula Pilota shall take place on December 7-8 at Sepang International Circuit.
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