Caption: Ong Chee Mang (2nd R) on the podium after the second round of the Rotax Max Challenge Asia/Malaysia last month. Picture: Courtesy of RotaxAsia.com
Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
ONG Chee Mang was satisfied with a third place finish in the DD2 Masters Category during the second round of the Rotax Max Challenge Asia/Malaysia at the Elite Plus Speedway Plus Circuit in Malaysia from April 22-23.
The result placed him fourth overall in the category with a total of 160 points just behind the duo of Alan Saw Khai Loon and Thiru Kumaran, who are four points ahead.
Long Mohamad Nor Ariff leads the standings with his tally of 177 points.
“I am very satisfied with the result despite running into so many problems over the race weekend,” said Ong in an interview with BruSports recently.
“It was a bad race. We did a lot of testing on Thursday and Friday including running the engine as well.
“We felt we almost got the best set up for the race and managed second during qualifying only 1/10s to my ex-teammate Riki Tanioka. Heat one and two were very good as well,” he added.
“It was during the pre-final that I didn’t have a good start but managed to keep up with Alan Saw,” he added.
“Towards the end, my gear box balancer broke but I still managed to finish the race.
“We then had to rush to change the spare engine for the final. We raced hard still managed to get third place,” continued Ong.
Ong Chee Mang in action during the second round of the Rotax Max Challenge Asia/Malaysia. Picture: Courtesy of RotaxAsia.com
The third of six legs will be held at the same venue from May 20-21.
When asked on preparations for the upcoming race, Ong replied: “The next race is less than two weeks away. I just need to lose some more weight and just keep driving.
“With the competition level being so close between every driver, we all have to maintain out fitness and driving. This year is going to be very tough,” he added.
He went on to thank his team Stratos Motorsports, team manager James Russell, mechanic James Ret and the rest of the tea mambers for getting them to where they are now.
