SEPANG: Mitchell Cheah made a dream debut in the TCR Asia Series by winning the second race at the season opening round at Sepang today in emphatic fashion.
The Liqua Moly Team Engstler driver did well to come in second in the first race held in the morning behind teammate Luca Engstler.
But it was the second race in the afternoon where Mitchell really shone. Starting from ninth in a reverse grid, the 20-year-old did well to avoid a number of collisions in the opening lap, one of which ended teammate Diego Moran's race.
By the time the safety car came out, he was second and it was not long before he took the lead and went on to clinch a comfortable victory in 34 minutes and 18.092 seconds.
Mitchell, who has yet to fully recover from an appendix surgery less than two weeks ago, said he could not have asked for more.
"I had some trouble with the car’s launch control in the first race because I am not used to it, but I switched it off in the second and managed a much better start," said the Kuala Lumpur-born driver.
"I was quite lucky to avoid all the incidents but after the safety car pulled away, I was quite confident that I could win quite comfortably.
"It is a perfect start to the season and I really have to thank Sepang International Circuit (SIC), Alex Yoong for guiding me and also my team who have done a really great job this weekend. I am looking forward to the second round (June 2-3) in Buriram."
Mitchell is financially backed by SIC and is part of their Motorsport Talent Development initiative. Alex is in charge of SIC's driver development programme.
Meanwhile, the Malaysia Championship Series held concurrently at Sepang saw Tedco Racing duo Nick Mah-Brendon Lim winning both races in the Malaysia touring car class in 1:03:05.878s and 1:02:38.839s.
Tedco Racing also dominated the touring production class with Marc Darwin-Boy Wong (1:02:30.385s) winning the first race and Sim Kwong Teck-Tony Teo (1:01:49.958s) taking the second.