Photo: Top Speed
Alex Sawer won all three races in round two of Formula 4 South East Asia’s season at Buriram.
In pre-event testing on Thursday, a 1m39.342s put Sawer 0.149 seconds ahead of Star Performance’s Ayrton Asdathorn.
Friday began with practice, and Sawer improved to 1m38.88s to lead Seth Gilmore by 0.583s. Qualifying followed, and Sawer topped Q1 by 0.311 seconds. Asdathorn, debuting along with his Evans GP-supported team, was Sawer’s closest rival and there was a 0.786s gap to Seth Gilmore in third.
Inigo Anton and Zhongwei Wang were within 1.5s of Sawer, and Rishon Rajeev and Thomas Lee completed a top seven covered by two seconds.
Sawer improved slightly in Q2 to earn race three pole by 0.522s. The top five were the same, with Gilmore 0.832s off pole and Anton trailing by 1.213s. Just 0.086s split Wang, Lee and Rajeev.
Race one took place on Saturday morning, and Sawer dominated the 15-lap encounter. Several drivers started from the pits, and Gilmore overtook Asdathorn before the first corner for second. Although he then kept Gilmore in his sights, Asdathorn never challenged him.
Lee was initially fourth, and on lap three Anton passed him on the long straight before turn three. But later in the lap he ran wide and dropped to sixth. After a mid-race safety car period caused by Ben Nguyen crashing out, Anton pounced on Rajeev.
On lap eight, Rajeev got back past and they swapped places twice on lap nine. Anton made his move stick at turn five on lap 10, then hunted down Lee and passed him on the penultimate lap.
Rajeev was on reversed-grid pole for race two, which had pre-race drama as Worapong Aiemwichan got stuck on the grid and was wheeled away. A damp track meant the safety car led the field through lap one.
When green flags waved, Rajeev had a big gap. Anton passed Lee for second into turn one, but by the end of lap two they were third and sixth as Sawer climbed four spots to second and Gilmore overtook Asdathorn for fourth.
Sawer took the lead around the outside at turn four on lap three, and Gilmore spun on turn six’s kerbs when trying to pass Anton.
He gained back one spot on lap five, then went off at turn three on lap six when attempting to overtake Asdathorn.
A lap later Anton went around the outside of Rajeev at turn four, then Asdathorn and Gilmore followed him through at the final corner.
Asdathorn began lap nine by overtaking Anton. He reclaimed second at turn three, but into the last corner Asdathorn got back past. On lap 10, Asdathorn lost out to Anton and Gilmore at turn three. Their battles continued to the finish, with third place decided by 0.119s, as Sawer romped to a 10.6s victory.
Surface moisture meant the safety car led two laps of race three on Sunday, and Lee was penalised for his leap from sixth to third when green flags waved. Gilmore and Anton went back past him at turn three, and Wang soon did too.
Gilmore dominated, Asdathor kept Gilmore at bay for second, and Lee was ahead of Rajeev by 0.031s at the finish before his five-second penalty was applied.
The championship is currently clarifying which points system it is using this year, with no tables generated so far this season.
Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Alex Sawer Evans GP 27m52.152s
2 Seth Gilmore Evans GP +7.290s
3 Ayrton Asdathorn Star Performance +8.622s
4 Inigo Anton BlackArts Racing +16.687s
5 Thomas Lee Evans GP +18.217s
6 Rishon Rajeev BlackArts Racing +21.732s
7 Zhongwei Wang Origine Motorsport +21.999s
8 Joshua Berry BlackArts Racing +25.824s
9 Worapong Aiemwichan Star Performance +1 lap
Ret Ben Nguyen BlackArts Racing
Pole: Sawer, 1m38.871s
Fastest lap: Sawer, 1m39.245s
Race 2 (14 laps)
1 Sawer 27m32.368s
2 Anton +10.609s
3 Gilmore +10.917s
4 Asdathorn +11.036s
5 Rajeev +14.003s
6 Wang +17.086s
7 Lee +33.498s
8 Berry +39.821s
9 Nguyen +53.007s
10 Aiemwichan +1 lap
FL: Sawer, 1m47.601s
Race 3 (15 laps)
1 Sawer 26m41.788s
2 Asdathorn +12.777s
3 Gilmore +13.918s
4 Anton +18.212s
5 Wang +23.549s
6 Rajeev +34.016s
7 Lee +38.985s
8 Nguyen +47.496s
9 Aiemwichan +1m02.283s
10 Berry +1m09.639s
P: Sawer, 1m38.643s
FL: Sawer, 1m39.774s