Duvashen Padayachee finished fourth in the first of two JK Racing Asia Series races supporting the Singapore F1 GP. Team mate, Aaron Chang, survived a huge accident when he was tipped into a roll and into the Turn 8 wall by an over optimistic lunge by Lucas Auer. Chang was running in a competitive third place when the accident happened and he was lucky to walk away from his completely destroyed car.
Padayachee started third with Natasha Seatter alongside in fourth and Chang from the fifth spot on the grid. Pasin Lathouras started from eighth on the competitive grid. Chang made a good start to finish the first lap in third glued to the gearbox of Jeffri in second. Chang seemed to have more pace than his rival but was unable to get past on the tight Singaporean track. This allowed Lucas Auer to close in and at the tight turn 8 right hander he dived up the inside of Chang and side swiped Aaron’s right rear wheel with his left front. The car was launched into the air and hit the outside wall on the corner’s exit at a ninety degrees, cockpit side to the wall. The car was totally destroyed but the driver was virtually uninjured once again demonstrating the strength of the Formula JK chassis.
The safety car was deployed whilst Aaron was extracted from the car and at the re-start another large accident saw the race end under the safety car. Padayachee took the flag in fourth whilst Natasha Seatter and Pasin Lathouras rued tardy starts which saw them drop to eighth and ninth.
“It was a disappointing race for us which promised so much but ended with a destroyed car. Lucas Auer apologised to the team after the race, which demonstrated great character, but we are appalled that the stewards considered it a racing incident and took no action. The accident was replayed to me in slow motion several times and I think I need my eyes tested as I am obviously not seeing the same incident they appeared to see” reported Eurasia’s Mark Goddard. “We trust the officials to ensure driving standards are upheld and in this case I believe they have failed us. The message given is that even if your whole car is behind at the turn in point you can still fire up the inside and barge your competitor out of the way. What is worse they made their decision first prior to talking to any of the parties involved which is rather mystifying.”
Race two takes place on Sunday afternoon with Natasha Seatter and Pasin Lathouras starting 3rd and 4th with Padayachee 6th and Chang in 8th, although the latter is likely to be a non-starter, a decision will be made on Sunday morning.
