MKC 2024 Race Report - Round 1
It was a beautiful Sunday last weekend. On the 5th of May, 2024, the Malaysia Karting Championship launched itself into a new era of karting. An open, all-inclusive beginning of something new but with roots in the old.
Before ROTAX, IAME, and ROK introduced their one-make championships, karting in Malaysia was open. Any 100cc reed-valve, air-cooled engine will do as long as it passes scrutineering. Sometimes even tires were open. But since the introduction of one-make championships, pioneered by ROTAX, open championships died a slow death. It took more than two decades to wait for its revival here in Malaysia.
An open series like WSK, CIK World Championships, and even F1 is a true test of any driver and manufacturer combination. The two have to work together to fully understand what’s possible. And with MKC’s fluid BOP (can change from round to round) drivers and race teams must always be prepared to squeeze out any extra gain available.
In the MKC Cadet Final, it was Michael Lederer who took home the win followed by Leeloo Freihuber and Maxim Syrapushchynski respectively. After a clean race start, Leeloo lost her second place to Maxim but quickly regained it two laps later. Fourth place Sahil Singh had the time of his life bringing the fight to Maxim but had to deal with an earlier battle with sixth place Muhammad Azeem. In fifth, it was Aydrae Amit Janardhan who could not make full use of his top speed when chasing down Maxim. In seventh, Keith Moh had to duke it out with Saif Zulqarnayn and that battle proved costly for Saif as it ended up with him coming in tenth. Eighth and ninth place went to Mohamed Faliq and Libhan Louis Kanna who stuck together like a pair of twins throughout the race.
In the MKC Junior Final, it was the Ethan Seto Show as he demonstrated his raw pace throughout the race. Despite a poor start and dropping down to fifth, Ethan managed to make his way through the field and hunt down eventual second place Aydon Lim Shao Yang. Aydon demonstrated good pace at the start but it was just not enough to hold off the charging Ethan. Fifth-place Conrad Garrow made the most of his third-place grid start and held off third-place Leonardo Mauri. But all it took was one mistake at a turn to lose two positions to Ethan and Leonardo. Fourth place went to Easton Yong Shun Wei who made the most of the drama ahead of him. In sixth and seventh, Esteban Freihuber and Nidal Sharir had their duel to the chequered flag. Unfortunately, Zharif Rayqal suffered a DNF, and Putera Mika had a DNS.
In the MKC Senior Final, Feroz Fauzy took home the win ahead of second-place Lucas Leong and third-place Muizzudin Musyafa. After a fiery start that saw karts go three-wide, it could have been anyone’s race. The top 5 drivers in qualifying were all within 0.5s of each other and it also had a good mix of manufacturers. But after Hendra Putra’s random collision with Isa Bin Mohd Fuad after just 4 laps completed, it was down to Muizz and Lucas to chase down Feroz. Muizz was gaining on Feroz but Lucas was gaining on Muizz more. And it didn’t take long for the two to eventually swap places. Lucas did seem to catch Feroz at one point but it wasn’t enough in the end. Fourth went to Louis Morgan followed by Dominic Ho in fifth, Isa Bin Mohd Fuadin sixth, and Albert Lederer in seventh.
In the MKC Open Final, it was Ahmad Hadri Harris who took the win from second place Farid Hakimi and third place Suresh Kevin Nair. After a frantic race start, eventual fifth place Kenny Ng Yi Teng and sixth place Abdullah Adil had a major throughout the race. However, their passion for racing took its toll around the four laps to go mark. They hit each other on the exit of Turn 1 and sent a kart spinning resulting in both of them being sent to the back of the grid. Farid had to work for his second place after battling it out with Suresh, who set the fastest time in the final but could not hold off Farid’s advance. Though the field was small, the racing on the track was intense to the end.
And there we have it. The first open national karting series in Malaysia is off and running. Something is exciting once again in Malaysian karting. One that hopefully doesn’t bust the budget. One that is designed for all to race. And one that aims to be fair to everyone. MKC has plenty to learn and improve on and rest assured each round will be better measured than the last. The road forward is not a clear path as there are plenty of variables to take into account such as ever-evolving engines and driver ability. Hopefully, before the end of the season, MKC will have a working formula that attracts everyone with a karting race engine to join the championship.
MKC
