Bangladesh pro-racer Avik Anwar emerged as the winner of Race 2 of Round 1 in the 2023 Malaysia Championship Series at Sepang International Circuit Sunday.
After finishing second in Race 1, his two podium finishes and 27 points have made him the championship leader at the end of Round 1 of the season.
The Round 2 races of the championship are scheduled to take place in June, followed by Round 3 and 4 in August and September respectively.
Avik, driving a Honda Civic 1.5 v-tech turbo in the TP category [Touring Production], started at Grid 2 Sunday and completed the 22 laps against 51 competitors in exactly one hour.
His best lap time at the 5543-meter-long track was 2 minutes 28 seconds [4 laps].
He finished with a difference of about 32 seconds with second-placed Xie Bayu Jonathan, who is one of the fastest at Sepang Circuit.
Avik has now clinched his seventh podium in Malaysia Championship Series history, just days after the passing of his grandmother, 2019 Ratnagarva Ma award winner Hazera Khatun. She was 92.
The 36-year old Bangladesh racer dedicated the win to his grandmother, who passed away a day before he travelled to Malaysia last week.
“My grandmother passed away recently, and I couldn't grieve for her properly [as I had to travel to Malaysia to participate in the championship]. I was close to her, and while I was driving today [Sunday], I could feel her guiding me. It was a very emotional race for me, and I would like to dedicate this race to her. May Allah put her in heaven. Alhamdulillah for everything,” said Avik exclusively to this Dhaka Tribune reporter right after he emerged from the driving seat following the race.
Another Bangladesh racer, Aiman Sadat, finished P7, and P9 overall with four points with his Honda Civic FD2R 2.0-liter in SP 1 category [Stock Production 1].
Aiman had overcome the disadvantage of DNF [Did Not Finish] in Race 1 due to a broken drive shaft.
The 21-year old racer hailing from Chittagong went into the last three laps of the race at P4 in his category.
However, he was forced to enter the pit by his team manager to avoid a penalty for having left the mandatory 3-minute pit stop 2 seconds early.
In six laps, Aiman recorded 2 minutes 32 seconds in his best lap.
