The grand finale for the sixth season of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival is set to take place this weekend at the Sepang International Circuit, and you’re invited to not only witness some exciting close racing, but also bask in the high-octane atmosphere as the entire circuit complex will be transformed into an “epicentre of festivities”.
Aside from the usual concert performances, food trucks, and meet and greet sessions with TGR celebrities, the two-day race weekend will also see the debut of the all-new Toyota Vios race car. The new cars will be raced by the nine celebrity racers in the Promotional Class, before going on to be used in all categories in Season 7 of the GR Vios Challenge next year.
The all-new fourth-generation Toyota Vios race car will be powered by the same 1.5-litre naturally-aspirated inline-four engine as before, with some ECU tuning to make it a little more fiery than its road-going counterpart. Unlike the standard road cars, though, the race-ready fourth-generation Toyota Vios will feature a five-speed manual transmission in place of the D-CVT gearbox to give drivers more control (and an extra challenge).
Toyota also says that the Vios’ all-new chassis helps the race car become much more planted around the corners, which alongside the revised aerodynamics, make the car more responsive to driver input, and thus capable of even faster lap times.
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On track, expect to see intense battles across all classes as the drivers fight to win their respective championships. The Super Sporting and Sporting Classes are the ones to watch, as the top two of both classes are currently only separated by a slim five points – Mitchell Cheah (Prima Pearl TD Racing) with 59 points over Putera Adam’s (Laser Motor Racing) 54 points in the Super Sporting Class, and Nabil Azlan (Axle Sports) with 68 points over Bradley Benedict Anthony’s (Crestmax Motorsports) 63 points in the Sporting Class.
Don’t count out the Rookie and Promotional Classes, either, with sparks sure to fly as the fearless drivers battle it out on track for glory. In the Rookie Class, Iman Danish leads with 59 points, although Elson Lew is just behind in second place with 52 points. In the Promotional Class, Zizan Razak is the clear favourite to win the title with a huge 17-point lead, but anything can happen between the celebrities!
Admission to the festival is free, and the vast line-up of concert acts across the two days, featuring the likes of KMY KMO, Joe Flizzow, Sona One, ALYPH, and OAG, means there’ll definitely be something for everyone. The full race and concert schedules are available on UMW Toyota’s website (linked here), where you can also register your attendance to gain entry into the festival.
