Engstler wins two at Sepang and retains TCR Malaysia title

The TCR Malaysia championship ended with two exciting races at Sepang. Luca Engstler retained the title as he scored maximum points, claiming pole position and two race wins. This enabled him to fill the 21-point gap in the standings from Daniel Lloyd; the two of them finished on equal points, but Engstler was crowned champion for the number of victories: 4 to 1. Lloyd found himself the only Honda drivers against a quartet of Hyundai cars and eventually Mitchell Cheah and Josh Files deprived him of the points that decided the final outcome. Gilbert Ang put in two solid performance to secure third place in the championship.
Engstler had set the pole in a close Qualifying session with a lap of 2:14.677 that was less than three tenths faster than Lloyd’s 2:14.959 and Cheah’s 2:14.962. On his first outing in the Hyundai Veloster, Files qualified fourth (2:15.519) ahead of Gilbert Ang (2:15.865).
In Race 1, Engstler sprinted at the start and scored a lights-to-flag win. Behind him there was a tough battle between Lloyd, Cheah and Files, with the three of them making contact several times. Files took second from Lloyd during the first lap, but then he clashed again with Loyd in lap 4 and dropped to fifth, while Lloyd was able to pull away from Cheah and Gilbert Ang who kept on fighting for third until the end of the race. Eventually, Cheah beat his fellow countryman by six tenths, while Files lost two more places to finish seventh. After the race, Files protested against Lloyd who protested against Cheah, that resulted in 30-second suspended penalties for both Lloyd and Cheah.
Douglas Khoo started Race 2 from the pole of the reversed grid, but he dropped down soon as Kim Jinsoo took the lead briefly; however, already during the first lap Engstler, Lloyd, Files, Cheah and Gilbert Ang resumed the battle. In lap 2, Cheah passed Files for P3 and then Lloyd for P2 in lap 3. As Engstler created a gap, the fight for second intensified with Cheah, Lloyd, Files and Ang covered by five tenths. On the penultimate lap Files managed to pass both Cheah and Lloyd and grabbed second place, while Lloyd finished in fourth and saw his hopes to dethrone Engstler vanishing.  

Race 1
1) Luca Engstler (Team Engstler, Hyundai i30 N), 11 laps
2) Daniel Lloyd (Brutal Fish Racing, Honda Civic Type R), 5.053
3) Mitchell Cheah (Team Engstler, Hyundai i30 N), 8.240
4) Gilbert Ang (Viper Niza Racing, CUPRA), 8.924
5) Kim Jinsoo (Solite Indigo Racing, Hyundai i30 N), 18.740

Race 2
1) Luca Engstler (Team Engstler, Hyundai i30 N), 11 laps
2) Josh Files (Solite Indigo Racing, Hyundai Veloster N), 6.905
3) Mitchell Cheah (Team Engstler, Hyundai i30 N), 7.355
4) Daniel Lloyd (Brutal Fish Racing, Honda Civic Type R), 8.077
5) Gilbert Ang (Viper Niza Racing, CUPRA), 8.670

Championship points
1. Engstler 121 pts; 2. Lloyd 121; 3. G. Ang 89

Picture: TCR Malaysia