Early Hari Raya cheer for Naquib as he wins eRacing Global Edition
KUALA LUMPUR: It was an early Hari Raya cheer for the ever-tenacious Naquib Azlan (pic) as he was crowned the champion in the fifth edition of the eRacing Grand Prix Global Edition championship.
The 20-year-old held off a fierce challenge by Australia’s Josh Purwein to claim the title for the first time after being runner-up in the previous four Global Editions.
Despite starting from the rear of the race, Naquib burned virtual rubber to gradually inch his way to victory and hold off Purwein in the standings by just seven points after a 10-race season.
As the dust settled on an exciting racing season, he was confirmed as the champion of the gold class category with 142 points followed by Purwein (135) and Singapore’s Muhammad Thasbeeh (109).
“Wow that was so tough especially after losing the last Global Edition by only one point, ” said Naquib.
“I knew that today, with me being on top coming into the final round, having never won it before, I wanted to do it no matter what, so I tried my best and it worked out, ” said an elated Naquib.
Alex Yoong, the founder of Axle Sports, who are also the organisers of the Global Edition, said Naquib was a future talent.
“It was a long time coming for Naquib who has proven to be one of Malaysia’s best drivers, and not only in the sim world. He was recently signed up by Toyota for their rookie programme and he won both races in the opening round at Sepang.
“We hope to attract more new racing talent next season which will in turn drive our viewership numbers in the upcoming eRacing GP Global Edition 6, ” he added.
In other categories, Nur Shazliezhan from Singapore won the silver class, Philippines’ Francis Angelo Gonzales emerged champion of the bronze class and Malaysia’s Kelvin Pao topped the copper class.
In terms of the Teams Cup category, Stratos Motorsports were crowned as the champions with 427 points followed by Tedco X Project Mu Racing 328 points, and Sim Racing Pilipinas 268 points.
The culmination of the fifth and final round saw Malaysia emerge champions of the Nations Cup for the second consecutive time with 695 points followed by Singapore with 487 points and Philippines with 471 points.