KUALA LUMPUR (10 JANUARY 2022): The first ever sim racing tournament at the South East Asian eSports Championships (SEA EC) was dominated by Malaysia where they took wins in both the Individual and Team Competitions in IUEM eRacing by RaceRoom.
In the individual competition, pole man, Naquib Azlan from Malaysia, led off the line in Race 1. Fellow front row starter, Inigo Anton from the Philippines, slotted behind in second position with Nabil Azlan in third. However, Anton soon started to struggle with tyre wear and started to drop back, first getting overtaken by Nabil and then Singapore’s Dillan Tan. Naquib would win from his brother to make it a Malaysia one-two with Tan in third.
In the reverse grid Race 2, we saw an action-packed session as drivers jostled for position. Anton surged into the lead but he had Andika Rama Maulana from Indonesia and Ar Muhammad Aleef from Singapore breathing down his neck. It was a train of 10 cars bumper-to-bumper throughout the early laps.
Race 1 winner, Naquib, climbed up to fifth and a well-calculated pit stop saw the Malaysian leapfrog into the lead. Behind him, however, an almighty battle came to a climax when Aleef nudged Maulana into a spin on the penultimate lap. The Singaporean would hold on to finish second behind Naquib. However, Aleef was handed a post-race penalty which dropped him down the order and promoted Indonesia’s Fadhli Rachmat to second with Nabil Azlan in third.
After all points were tallied in the Individual competition, Naquib emerged the winner with his brother Nabil in second and Rachmat in third.
“Words can’t describe the emotions my brother and I are feeling. Coming into the race, we felt a great deal of motivation and responsibility to ensure we flew the Malaysian Flag high and that’s exactly what we achieved.” said Naquib.
In the Team competition it was Malaysia again who put on a show as the Azlan duo locked out the front row with Naquib again on pole and Nabil in second. They would run away at the start and soon pull away from the rest.
After the 40-minute race, Anton took third while Maulana came in fourth. Anton’s team mate, 10-year-old Axel Nocom, was in tenth and Andika’s teammate, Rachmat was in 7th. This saw Philippines and Indonesia tied on points. However, Anton’s second position meant that the Philippines would be declared the runner-up and Indonesia as third on count back while Malaysia took the top spot.
The younger Azlan brother, Nabil said “Going into this race, my main aim was to not let the team down and go full out in this championship, and I’m really happy with how things turned out. I’m also happy to have teamed up with Naquib. I learnt a lot from him in this championship and he made me push to the absolute limit.”
14 drivers from Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia took part in IUEM eRacing GP by Raceroom.
Former Formula One driver and founder of eRacing GP, Alex Yoong, said “I was over the moon to get eRacing GP into the SEA eSports Championships. The countries involved put on a great show with their drivers showing that they really are the best in the region. I’m keen to show that drivers from Southeast Asia can compete with the best in the world and that their progress will spur more growth in the their respective countries.”
“We also want to extend our special thanks to IUEM and Z-Challenger for making this happen alongside the Vietnam Recreation and eSports Association (VIRESA) and eGG Network” added Jason Chong, Head of RaceRoom Asia.
Winners received prize money from a pool of $10,000.
