Hari Dharma Manoppo stormed his way to his second win of the weekend, further cementing his dominance in the Asian Touring Car Series round 6 at the Sentul International Circuit.

Manoppo, the Indonesian driver from ASH Motorsports, made the race seem easy, despite starting in the middle of the grid, after the reverse grid order. He immediately made his way to the front of the pack by the end of the opening lap but Cheung Chi Sing managed to keep him behind a while longer before Manoppo found a way past on turn five. 

“I started in sixth and then after the first or second lap I managed to climb to second and my last overtaking was on Aldo. Because he went wide at the first turn, he allowed me to find a way past. After that, it was just a matter of holding on to the lead all the way to the end of the race” said Manoppo at the Post Race Press Conference. 

Up ahead, Manoppo’s teammate, Renaldo Koesoemo (nicknamed Aldo) has already found a way past JPM Nexus driver, Chin Tzer Jinn and was slowly beginning to open up a gap.

This was followed by Manoppo and also Cheung, both of whom took second and third respectively when the outmanoeuvred Chin at the end of the next lap.

Then on lap two, disaster struck for Koesoemo when he misjudged the braking point while being pressured by Manoppo before turn 1 and went sideways into the turn, losing his lead to Manoppo and almost to Cheung. 

“I started in fifth and at the opening lap, I managed to overtake four cars which I am happy about. Then I led for a while before making mistake at turn 1. I tried to stay with Hari, but he is really quick, like Superman”. 

For Cheung, the race over the weekend was tough but interesting. “I did not have a good start and then Renaldo already overtook me, that was not good.

“On lap nine I made a mistake and I am having trouble with my brakes and tyres and Charles just took me but in the end, I managed to reclaim my lead on him. I will definitely be trying, we have the next race to look forward to.

Behind them there was a great three way battle between Chin, Adrian Henry D’Sila and Danny Stacy Chau. D’Silva who took Chin at the straight into turn 1 but Chin was too quick and managed to close up the gap built by D’Silva

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