After a long hiatus no thanks to the pandemic, lockdown and whatnot, the Toyota Gazoo Racing festival finally returned with a bang last weekend with second round of the Toyota Vios Challenge for 2021.
Round 2 of the Toyota Vios Challenge was just concluded at the Sepang International Circuit after an action-packed weekend which saw racers battling it out both in wet and dry conditions.
According to UMW Toyota, the highlight of the whole weekend was that the Vios Challenge actually reached a total of two million viewers over the weekend.
While the weather hot and sunny on day one of racing, Sunday’s racing was run in the rain which made the track both slippery and visibility challenging.
Much of the limelight of the weekend’s race was on Vios Challenge newcomer and touring car driver Mitchell Cheah who drove to a race win and a second place, and actor Shukri Yahaya who drove valiantly en route to clinching his best ever results in the series with back to back victories in both Race 1 and Race 2.
The event remained closed to the public and spectators, and a high degree of safety precaution was put in place, consistent with standard operating procedures (SOPs) imposed by the National Security Council (MKN) pertaining to the organizing of sporting events and under the strict supervision of the Motorsports Association of Malaysia (MAM) as the governing body for motorsports.
“Looking at all the action on and off the track, it was obvious that everyone in the community has been eager to get back to doing what they do best – racing!”
“The competition was just as intense, if not greater, than it had been before the pandemic and this is precisely the boost of energy we all need to steer out of these challenging times,” said Gazoo Racing Malaysia’s Chief Motorsport Officer Akio Takeyama, adding that the race weekend was live streamed over Toyota’s website, Facebook page and numerous social media platforms.
“As an event organizer, one of the most demanding aspects of the weekend in these times has not so much been in managing the racing on the track, but to ensure that all safeguards are in place and adhered to in order to protect everyone on site from the threat of COVID-19. This remains our number one priority.”
