since 1976
since 1976
The two-day Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship brought together an elite group of 20 online racers who competed in a semi-final on Saturday (26 September 2020), with the top 10 fastest drivers advancing to the grand final on Sunday (27 September 2020). Held at the UMW Toyota Motor Sdn. Bhd. (UMWT) headquarters in Shah Alam, the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship garnered more than one million online views over the weekend.
Team mates and friends Taj Izrin Aiman Taj Madira, Mior Muhammad Hafiz and Muhammad Iqbal Ahmad Suji won big time at the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship grand final when they clinched the top three positions to win almost RM40,000 in cash prizes in what is the most lucrative virtual racing event in Malaysia. The trio also earned bragging rights to represent Malaysia at Toyota’s Regional eSports competition.
Taj Izrin Aiman clinched victory in Race 1 behind the wheel of a GR Supra RZ at the Autodrome Lago Maggiore circuit in Italy, finishing ahead of Mior Muhammad with Rio Pandukusuma in third place in the 15-lap race. In Race 2, at the Autopolis Racing Course in Japan, Moo Shuan Jinq took the chequered flag ahead of Mior Muhammad in the 18-lap race in a FT-1 Vision Gran Turismo, with Taj Izrin Aiman finishing in third position.
Meanwhile, in Race 3 at Circuit de la Sarthe in France, Muhammad Iqbal piloted a TS050 Hybrid sports car to victory ahead of Mior Muhammad and Ariff Roslan in second and third places respectively.
By the end of the three races, the overall championship was down to three potential winners with Mior Muhammad leading with 54 points, followed by Taj Izrin Aiman at 50, and Muhammad Iqbal with 45 points.
In the fourth and final 18-lap race at the famous 13.6km Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, Taj Izrin Aiman however, stamped his authority by leading the race from start to finish in a Toyota-powered Dallara Super Formula SF19, building an unassailable lead of nine seconds ahead of Arif Roslan and Rio Pandukusuma who finished second and third respectively. Low Wooi Kit crossed the finish line in fourth place, followed by Muhammad Iqbal in fifth, while Mior Muhammad who was fourth at one point in the race dropped to sixth, finishing more than 35 seconds behind the race winner and essentially bidding farewell to his hopes of winning the overall championship.
Meanwhile, in a special 17-lap exhibition race involving celebrities competing in the Toyota Vios Challenge, musician Shawn Lee proved that he was indeed a force to be reckoned with both on and off the racing circuit. Lee, a two-time champion in the Promotional Class of the Toyota Vios Challenge, led the virtual 17-lap race at the 4.5km Fuji International Speedway from start to finish, to win ahead of GAZOO RACING Malaysia’s Chief Motorsports Officer Akio Takeyama, and celebrity gamer Daddy Hood.
