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Post date: Oct 23, 2012 11:1:58 PM
Kane Fernandez scores his second win out of three 2012 races and takes the drag race title as well
Thirteen boats registered for the 3rd round of the DBKL/KBS F3000 Powerboat Championship Series 2012 that was held in the scenic Metropolitan Lake in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur on the 22nd & 23rd Sep 2012.
For the third time in a row, Brandon Thein from Team Explorer qualified in pole position. Kane Fernandez who had clinched the drag race title a day earlier cooked a piston in his motor on the start of his qualifying run and had to join from the back of the pack in the final feature race.
The team from Kota Tinggi comprising Tony Chew and Ng Kok Siang in boats # 3 and #30 respectively started second and fourth on the grid. Awang Bara had managed to split them up in third.
At the flag off, Brandon managed to easily pull away into the lead and it appeared that he clearly had the pace. However, Kane who started from behind the pack had moved up to 5th position by the third lap and was making a gain and closing up on the race leaders.
By lap ten, Kane was within striking distance of in the lead Brandon and made his move where he got the inside lane while passing his 15 year old brother Warren in boat #16. Brandon who was desperate not to lose the lead, passed on the outside of Warren but cut in too early, into a collision course with him. To avoid ramming into Brandon, Warren who had to take sudden evasive action, swerved a little too hard and barreled rolled.
The race was red flagged as boat #16 was disabled on the racing lanes. Warren came out alright except for some cuts and bruises. He was later evacuated by the emergency team to a nearby hospital for treatment.
After the capsized boat #16 was cleared, the race was restarted with Kane in the lead followed by Brandon, Kok Siang, Tony, Awang, Scott, Keith, Zul, Haniff and Yusof Bakar from Terengganu. Kane quickly pulled away into the lead establishing a 5 second buffer and it stayed that way to the chequered flag ten laps away.
There was a keen contest between Brandon Thein and Ng Kok Siang but Kok Siang could not overhaul Brandon as hard as he tried. Scott McCook, the New Zealander who was competing in the series for the first time, drove a safe and steady race to finish sixth.
A protest lodged by Warren regarding the incident on lap number 10 involving boat #5 was subsequently investigated by the stewards. After deliberations with the Race Stewards and officials from KBS. Brandon’s style of driving was found to be (for the lack of a better word) 'RECKLESSLY DANGEROUS' and has been demoted 3 places in the final finishing order and issued a yellow card.
Brandon is still 2nd overall in the points standing and eligible to make the cut for Team Malaysia Formula 1 Powerboat squad in 2013. Let’s hope he keeps it together and not end up a “Shaun Torrente”, at the final event this December!
We would like to express our utmost appreciation to :-
a) YB The Mayor of Kuala Lumpur;
b) The Ketua Pengarah of KBS and all KBS personnel who gave their full suport;
c) Our valued sponsors particularly Mercury Marine Sdn Bhd and Dynotab/Chemplex Continental Sdn Bhd;
d) All F3000 Powerboat Pilots and Teams who participated in the event;
e) Last but not least, all the personnel / crew and friends who worked hard to make this event a success ...
THANK YOU !
For detailed qualifying times and final finish positions, check out Race-Results.
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