B-Quik Absolute Racing enjoyed plenty of podium finishes and a big haul of silverware as TSS The Super Series 2024 kicked off at a very hot and dry Chang International Circuit, Buriram, over the weekend.
With Thailand sweltering for weeks in intense heat, this would be one of the big stories of race weekend, with temperatures reaching into the 40s as the series arrived in the north east for the season opener. It would mean keeping the cars and drivers from overheating would be a key priroty.
When the dust settled on an exciting weekend of very close, evenly balanced racing, B-Quik Absolute Racing departed with a stack of trophies and plenty of Teams’ and Drivers’ championship points.
The team came within a whisker of some sensational wins too. Akash Nandy and Eshan Pieris had looked on course for a decent shot at victory in Race 1 after cooly converting their pole position into the race lead at the green lights, before an unexpected issue reared its head and caused them to require an extra stop.
They then put in the drive of the race and showed everyone why they are two of the most highly regarded young drivers in Asia today, fighting their way up onto the podium positions to finish fourth. Another fourth place in Race 2 hauls them right onto the points classification.
Vincent Lin and Markus Winkelhock took two third places to also get their title bid underway and for this pair in Race 1 it almost could have been more as they finished less than a second away from the car in front with the winner just two seconds further down the road while gaps were closing rapidly as the chequered flag emerged.
That was the same story for the Audi shared by Huang Ruohan and Adisak Tangphuncharoen. They looked comfortably on course to bid for the win in Race 1 before the untimely deployment of the Safety Car swept away their chances. However, some gritty, hard work put them on the podium.
In Race 2 another hard charge saw them finish just seven one hundredths behind the winner, edging alongside at the line and another hundred metres would have delivered the win. But that’s racing and we’re very pleased with their performances which also netted them the GT3 AM win in both races.
An exciting new pairing is Deng Yi and Sandy Stuvik in the Winhere by B-Quik Absolute Racing entry. They’re bedding in fast and despite being in the wars, ended the weekend with a richly deserved podium in Race 2, rounding out an Audi 2-3-4-5 and clearly they are pointing firmly in the right direction for the long season ahead.
We were also especially pleased with the performance of Henk Kiks and Erwin de Smit in the Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport entered in Super Car GT4. On the overall, AM and Porsche Sprint Trophy podiums in both races, they headed home with no less than six trophies in the bag, a very productive start to the year and we’re super pleased with those results and expect them to mount a title bid as the season unfolds.
Now we immediately turn our attention to the second round of Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia by AWS which takes place next weekend here in Buriram and we will announce our entry for this race tomorrow. Then there is a seven week gap before the big one hoves into view, the Bangsaen Grand Prix.
