KUALA LUMPUR: The seventh season of Toyota Gazoo Racing's Vios Challenge came to an exciting finish at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit over the weekend.
Laser Motor Racing's Amer Harris won the final race of the season in the Super Sporting Class - the Vios Challenge's premier class - ahead of Toyotsu Toyota's William Ho and PS Otomobile's Bradley Benedit, who settled for second and third respectively.
But it was Axle Sport's Naquib Azlan who claimed the overall title despite being forced to retire from the final race. Prior to retiring, Naquib had been locked in a heated battle for the title with Prima Pearl TD Racing's Mitchell Cheah.
Mitchell was, however, handed a 10-position penalty due to an infringement in the final race and was forced to settle for second overall in the championship. Telagamas Toyota's Freddie Ang was third overall.
Naquib pocketed RM80,000 for winning the championship while Mitchell and Freddie took home RM60,000 and RM40,000 respectively for their efforts.
It completed a hat-trick of championship wins for Naquib who had previously won the Rookie Class (2021) and Sporting Class (2022) categories previously.
In the Sporting Class, PCM Group Racing Team's Kenneth Koh won the final race to secure the championship title. Winning the intermediate class title has earned him promotion to the Super Sporting Class next season.
The Rookie Class witnessed competitive karter Adam Mikail, 18, being crowned the champion. He will be eligible to race in the Sporting Class next season.
Organised by UMW Toyota Motor, the Vios Challenge has been the nation's premier one-make series for almost a decade now.
The Vios Challenge was held over three rounds (six races) this season and offered a total prize purse of RM630,000.