João Paulo de Oliveira was a star performer on his WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup wildcard debut in Sepang for KC Motorgroup Ltd., battling title contenders, winning the TAG Heuer Best Lap Trophy and recording a top-five finish in the #38 Honda Civic Type R TCR.
Making his first touring car appearance since the 2009 FIA World Touring Car Championship round in Japan, Brazilian de Oliveira demonstrated his knowledge and experience of the former Malaysia Grand Prix venue to go sixth fastest in opening practice.
A solid qualifying result saw the 2010 Formula Nippon champion line-up 13th for race one, with the mixed conditions seeing the field split on tyre choice. Despite the wet track, Hong Kong squad KC Motorgroup opted for slick tyres and de Oliveira quickly charged into the top 10 after the opening lap.
By the end of lap five, the three-time Super GT Sepang winner had overtaken several race-winners and regular front-runners to move into fifth. De Oliveira then superbly held off title contender and four-time WTCC champion Yvan Muller, recording the fastest lap as he closed on Honda’s Esteban Guerrieri.
In the final few laps, de Oliveira continued to defend from Muller and closed to within 1.2 seconds of 2018 WTCR champion Gabriele Tarquini to take fifth on his debut, marking the best result for a wildcard this year.
Torrential rain saw a delayed start for race two, which took place under the floodlights for the first time at the Sepang International Circuit. De Oliveira initially dropped outside the top 20, but with more experience in the difficult conditions he was able to climb back to 18th at the finish.
The heavy rain continued for race three, with de Oliveira making up 10 places to run in the top 15 with three laps remaining. However, another competitor made contact with the Brazilian, sending him out of the race.
De Oliveira was awarded the TAG Heuer Best Lap Trophy after the three races, with KC Motorgroup delighted with its best WTCR wildcard result to date.
João Paulo de Oliveira: “I’m very happy about the weekend, overall it was really positive. I want to thank Paul Ip, KC Motorgroup, JAS Motorsport and Honda for this opportunity. It’s always very difficult to have a perfect weekend with three races all in one day. Overall, I was able to prove what I can do, demonstrate my speed and show that I could help the team and Honda in race one. The pace we had throughout Sunday was very strong. Races two and three were chaotic starting from the back. I had to make a lot of overtakes to get into a good position. I was always trying to go forward to finish in the top 10 but race two was more like a learning experience. I was pushing too hard and lost a lot of time. In race three I was keeping it smooth and making up places. Then, while in the top 15 I was taken out of the race. All-in-all it was a great weekend, and I was able to prove my speed with the fastest lap.”
Paul Ip, Team Founder: “It was a fantastic weekend for João Paulo, who was in the battle for a podium on his first ever WTCR outing. Although he didn’t get the result he was aiming for in the second and third races, his underlying pace was very impressive, bettering some of the world’s best touring car drivers across all sessions. I would also like to thank Honda and JAS Motorsport for their support this year. We can be happy with what we’ve learnt and achieved this year, and are already looking ahead to our 2020 programmes.”
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Who is KCMG?
KC Motorgroup Ltd (KCMG) is an international motorsport services group established in 2007 by Paul Ip. The group, with its headquarters located in Hong Kong, has operations reaching across the Asia Pacific region. KCMG operates closely with many partner companies and racing organisations around the world to provide unrivalled motorsport services, equipment, team management and quality distribution in the automotive industry. For more information on all of the team’s activities please visit www.kcmg.com.hk or email info@kcmg.com.hk.
