PETRONAS SYNTIUM TEAM GRABS POLE FOR ATCS SEASON OPENER

5 May 2007

Set to pursue his first driver’s championship, Fariqe Hairuman took to the wheel of his new BMW 320SI for the first round of the 2007 Asian Touring Car Series (formerly known as Asian Touring Car Championship) at the Sepang F1 Circuit (North Track), which kicked off with the qualifying session and first race today.

Blitzing the field through the qualifying session, Fariqe clocked his fastest lap with a time of 1min 12:844secs and ensuring a pole position start for the first race later in the afternoon.

Title winning team Engstler Motorsport enters Asian Touring Car Series for the third consecutive year in 2007.

With a brand new collaboration with Japanese race team, SSRF Motorsport, partnership between the German and the Japanese team, now known as BMW Team Engstler SSRF, is set to strengthen the already formidable Engstler Motorsport.

Their Japanese driver Masaki Kano (left) was second fastest in qualifying, crossing the finish line in 1min 13.518secs with his 6-cylinder BMW E46 320i.

Singapore’s Melvin Choo (right) led the Honda Integra cars with 1min 15.031secs to take third place on the grid.

Choo will share the second row of the Asian Touring Car Series Round 1 with Hong Kong’s Cheung Chi Sing (Team IMSP).

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ATCS Information

The Asian Touring Car Series race format features 3 x 30 minutes un-timed practice sessions, followed by a half-hour Qualifying session and one 20-laps race on Saturday and one 20-laps race on Sunday.

The Asian Touring Car Series is the most exciting tin-top racing in Asia that brings together the talents of drivers from Europe with the best touring car drivers in Asia in one action packed race weekend. The series provides a vital link between the spectators, the vehicles and manufacturers, as cars used are similar to road-going cars, allowing the spectators to have a familiarity to the race vehicle.

Motorsport Asia, the company behind AFOS racing weekends which include the Formula V6 Asia, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia and Formula BMW Asia, is the region’s leading motorsport outfit.  This age-old partnership marries tin-top racing action with the most exciting race event weekend in Asia.