SEPANG: Hi-Rev Dream Chaser Racing Team’s Hayden Haikal-Rahul Mayer were left to rue what could have been after being forced to retire from the Malaysia Touring Car Championships (MTCC) season finale today (Sept 6).
The duo had led for almost half the race in their Honda City before a seized brake caliper ended their race at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit.
Hayden-Rahul were competing in the Malaysia Touring Car (MTC) class, which has switched to turbocharged engines this season.
“It went all to plan early on and we were pretty much faultless,” said Hayden, who won the last naturally-aspirated edition of the MTC class with Lee Wai Cong last year.
“We managed to build up a 30-second gap to the second placed car and were not really pushing that hard, we were just maintaining our pace.
“Unfortunately somewhere around the 30-lap mark our left caliper seized up and that ruined our drive shaft and also broke our limited-slip differential.
“The brakes went totally soft and unfortunately I sailed straight into the gravel trap at turn 15.
“We tried to fix the car but it still gave us a lot of issues so we decided to retire as it would be dangerous to race on with brake issues.
“It is disappointing as we would have likely won the championship title if we won the race.”
The season-ending MTCC race was a 300 kilometre endurance affair which offered double points.
Hayden-Rahul were fourth overall in the Malaysia Touring Car (MTC) standings heading into the final round, trailing the leaders by 12 points.
Hayden’s younger brother and Dream Chaser teammate Aaron Haikal would go on to win the season ending race and claim the MTC championship crown with partner Daim Hishammudin.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
