This year’s season of the World Series by Renault came to a conclusion on Sunday (25 Oct 2009) at the new Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain. Claiming the championship title was Bertrand Baguette of International Draco Racing, who had to fend of a stiff challenge from Fairuz Fauzy to win Race 2 of the round. Fairuz, who started from pole position, had to to battle back from a series of technical glitches to finish 6th in Race 1 on Saturday, after being forced down to 10th at one point.

However, the Malaysian returned the following day, and once again started from pole for Race 2. Maintaining his lead early on, Fairuz was forced to concede his lead to Baguette again, having been outsmarted by the Frenchman at the pits. Responding to the setback, Fairuz pushed Baguette all the way, but the latter held firm to take the chequered flag just seconds ahead of Fairuz.

Though he did not win, Fairuz, who drives for team MOFAZ Racing, finished the season placed second in the 2009 Championship, registering a total of 98 points.

During the press conference after the podium ceremony, Fairuz was quoted as saying,”My utmost gratitude to God, for allowing me the opportunity to get this far in life, and also to my family, who have been the pillar of strength and support throughout the 20 years of challenges to get here, and also the whole MOFAZ Group for believing in me, and always being there for me through thick and thin. I dedicate this achievement to all Malaysians and to all my fans from around the world”.

Fairuz on the podium

MOFAZ Racing will be in Spain over the next two weeks to conduct winter testing, and also to test potential and up & coming drivers from several championships, under the Fairuz’s guidance.

KON

See also: Renault World Series 2009: Fairuz Takes Pole in Spain

The final round of the 2009 season World Series by Renault championship is set to take place this weekend in the brand new track of Motorland Aragon in Spain. Leading the pack of drivers off the starting grid will be Fairuz Fauzy, who claimed pole position for the first time in his career.

Fairuz takes pole.

Fairuz, racing for the newly remaned MOFAZ Racing (previously MOFAZFortec Motorsport) with Sten Pentus, is locked in a close battle with Charles Pic, Brendon Hartley, James Walker, Jaime Alguersuari, Oliver Turvey and Marcos Martinez for second place in the championship standings.

During the Group A qualifying session, Fairuz paced himself to protect his tyres from wear, doing just enough to qualify for Superpole with Walker and Bertrand Baguette. Twelve drivers battled it out over 15 blazing minutes during Superpole, with the provisional pole position going from Martinez to Baguette, to Alguersuari, before Fairuz stepped in to claim the final pole position with a time 1:44.070.

When interviewed after the qualifying and the SuperPole sessions, Fairuz was quoted as saying,”This is a truly blessed and joyous celebration. Gaining pole position is the best birthday present I could get for myself, but I couldn’t have done it without the support and great form that my whole team has displayed not only since we got here, but throughout the whole season. We’re looking forward and striving diligently to finish second in the championship, and to do just that, we’re focusing on podium finishes throughout the weekend, in particular a win on Sunday!”

The birthday boy celebrates an early victory. Can he keep it going?

The circuit hosting this weekend’s race, the Motorland Aragon in Alcaniz, Spain, makes its debut in the international motorsports calendar. It was designed by F1 driver Pedro de la Rosa and German designer Hermann Tilke. Stretching 7.6km per lap, it has a total of 18 corners, one of them a 180˚turn, and has a height difference of 50 metres between its highest and lowest points.

Motorsports fans wishing to follow Fairuz’s progress can do so via a live telecast of Race 1 broadcasted out via Eurosport (Astro Channel 814) at 2100hrs Malaysian time. Race 2 of the World Series by Renault Finale at Motorland Aragon will be broadcasted recorded via Eurosport on Monday, 26^th October 2009 at 10.30 a.m.

KON

Word has it that he’s set to be the man to lead the charge of the 1Malaysia F1 team. If he is, then Fairuz Fauzy certainly did his reputation no harm with two podium finishes in Round 8 of the Formula Renault 3.5 World Series held at the Nurburgring over the weekend.

Fairuz, racing for team MOFAZFortec Motorsport with Sten Pentus, took pole position during the qualifying sessions, beating championship leader Bertrand Baguette of International Draco Racing and Jon Lancaster of Comtec Racing to become the fastest driver in qualifying.

However, that was not sufficient for a pole position start, as Fairuz and Pentus, merely qualified for the SuperPole lineup, from which they had to compete with the likes of Charles Pic, Brendon Hartley and Oliver Turvey for the first position on the grid. Hartley triumphed in this battle, with Fairuz having to start Race 1 from 5th placing.

Fairuz in action.

After a cautious start, which saw him drop to as low as ninth place Fairuz ramped it up in the latter stages of the race, advancing past Jaime (no, not our Jaime) Alguersuari, Daniil Move, and Jon Lancaster to secure a second-placed finish for the day.

The Jalur Gemilang flies in the Nurburgring

For Race 2, MOFAZ played a more defensive strategy, as Fairuz secured third position early, and held on to it with dear life. At the end, third was where Fairuz finished, as the Malaysian celebrated Hari Raya with a double podium finish.

Fairuz (right) on the podium a second time.

When interviewed, Fairuz was quoted as saying,”Alhamdulillah, I am thankful for the blessings that the team and I have received on this glorious day of Aidilfitri. I must say that having such a strong support network, especially with AirAsia coming on board as our official airline, has helped boost the overall confidence and motivation for every member of the team.”

With rumour mill working over time on him being set to helm the 1Malaysia F1 Team’s challenge in the next Formula 1 season, it would be interesting to see how Fairuz and his team MOFAZFortec Motorsport handle all the associated pressure and media speculation in the coming months.

Formula 1 beckons?

Team MOFAZFortec Motorsport will be back in action on the 23^rd – 25^th of October 2009, when they battle it out to secure the top 3 positions within the World Series by Renault 2009 Finals at Motorland Aragon, Spain.

KON

Fairuz Fauzy’s quest for a place in the grids of Formula 1 continues with the Malaysian lad selected to undergo a special two-day orientation programme designed specifically to give aspiring drivers a taste of motorsports’ premier racing event. Organized by ING Renault F1 Team at their plant in Enstone, Fairuz’s participation in the programme, which took place on 6 – 7 July 2009,  followed up on his recent success finishing second in the Silverstone race of the Formula Renault 3.5 series. With two successive podium finishes, having won in Hungary the week before, Fairuz now stands at 6th place in a field of 23 drivers, while the six-month-old Team MOFAZFortec is fifth in the team standings.

Fairuz finished second at Silverstone.

On the first day of the programme, the participants were given a tour of the Renault F1 team HQ, before being shown the physical training centre of the plant, bombastically named as the Human Performance Centre. They sat through a clinic organised by the Renault F1 team training instructor to brief them on the physical demands of an F1 driver’s training regime. As the saying goes, action speaks louder than words, and so the drivers were then put into the actual training conditions to complete the lesson.

The second day of the programme began with ING Renault F1 Team’s Executive Director of Engineering explaining to the participants the stages involved in selecting drivers to ultimately compete in the sport. Now, most of you would imagine that the criteria of selecting and, ultimately, training of F1 drivers focuses on their on track performance – car control, strategy, physical fitness and focus.

There is one more aspect that most of us, me included, would not have thought of – media interaction. Before dispersing, the participants spent an extended amount of time in the Public Relations centre where they were trained to speak to the media as not just a driver, but also an ambassador of the various brands slapped on their cars and suits.

It should be noted that although participation in this programme represents a massive step forward for Fairuz in his quest for a place in F1, his task is by no means even at the halfway mark. Although the Formula Renault 3.5 Series can be rightfully regarded as the fast track to F1, Fairuz still needs to be crowned overall champion of the series before being offered an F1 testing seat with ING Renault.

The next step in Fairuz’s long road would be in the Le Mans circuit, where the next leg of the Formula Renault will be held on 18-19 July, which is this weekend! Tune in to Astro Channel 814 this weekend to follow Fairuz’s progress as he continues on his quest to become Malaysia’s next Formula 1 driver.

KON

See also: Fairuz Fauzy targets Formula Renault win at Silverstone

This weekend, aspiring Malaysian driver Fairuz Fauzy of MOFAZFortec Motorsport team is set to compete in the World Series Formula Renault 3.5 at the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. Having just secured his first win in the last round of the series at the Hungaroring Circuit in Hungary, Fairuz, with the help of teammate Sten Pentus is intent on keeping the run going with a second successive victory at Silverstone.

Fairuz powering his way to victory at Hungary

Regarded by many as the penultimate step prior to Formula 1, the World Series Formula Renault 3.5 began in 2005 as a merger of the Eurocup Formula Renault V6 and the World Series by Nissan. A total of thirteen two-car teams are invited, all competing in car with uniform design complying to stringent F1 safety regulations. The cars are powered by a 3,498cc V6 engine producing 425bhp @ 8,250rpm. Weighing only 600kg, the car is capable of a 300kph top speed.

Even with only a 3.5 V6, these cars are capable of 300kph

The sole Asian on the grid, Fairuz has been competing with senior go-karters in the international level at the age of 12, having been crowned Champion of the ASEAN Kart Prix for five successive years from 1996 to 2000. He has since moved on to the Formula Ford Zetec Championship, then GP2 before representing Malaysia in the A1 GP. Should he continue is path of excellence in Formula Renault entry into the prestigious, though now dishevelled, Formula 1 beckons for the aspiring driver.

Fairuz on the podium.

Racing alongside Fairuz is Estonian Sten Pentus, who joined MOFAZFortec only this year, having tested in GP2 and Formula Renault the year before. According to MOFAZFortec, Pentus receives great support from his government being one of the brightest racing prospects to have emerged from his country. Malaysians wishing to catch Fairuz in action can do so live by tuning in to Eurosport Channel (Astro Channel 814) on Saturday, 4 July 2009, at 8:30pm.

Can he do it again?

KON

Those of you among the estimated crowd of 30,000 people who attend the A1 GP race at Sepang on Sunday would probably have noticed the Jobstreet.com tent put up in front of gates 4 & 5. From 10am till the minutes before the race commenced, volunteers – which included a few of us from AW - stationed in the tent were busy giving away freebies to holders of Jobstreet.com ticket vouchers. 

Besides Jobstreet.com, other entities such as Proton and Mofaz also gave away a sizeable amount of free grandstand tickets to the public leading to an unprecedented turn-out. Past the turnstiles, the crowd had a row of Lotus cars to pose with besides the usual food and beverage stalls, which undoubtedly made a tidy profit.

The race itself was a disappointment, as far as Team Malaysia is concerned, having been undone not by poor strategy or driving, but by a technical mishap that sent driver Fairuz Fauzy into a confused pitlane who did not anticipate his arrival. This sent Fairuz hurtling down from 3rd place to 13th. Nevertheless, the man salvaged some pride with some very daring driving and overtaking maneuvers that sent the crowd to raptures.

Down but not out, Fairuz, consistently clocked lap times between 1:50 and 1:51, and slowly inched his way up the opponents within striking distance. Once up close, he attacked relentlessly, diving down their left and then right. His tenacity saw Team Lebanon and Team Italy battered to submission, and considering the circumstances, he can actually be proud of a 10th place finish – which he richly deserved.

Those of us at the Jobstreet.com tent were truly humbled by the overwhelming support from the crowd coming to us. Autoworld.com.my and Jobstreet.com wish to thank you all for your support. We hope you enjoyed the race as much as we did, and see you next year.

Early in the day

All hands, man your stations!

Everybody pose in front of the Jobstreet.com banner!

The crowd braving the scathing heat…

Jobstreet.com’s tent getting overwhelmed! Help! (p.s. Thanks for the support everyone!)

The most wanted cap in Sepang.

We were really struggling to keep up with the demand….

Look at the crowd!!

A few Lotuses on display

As if as more noise were needed…

Blistering heat ensured good business for the ice-blended coffees.

What’s this clown doing here?

Spectators getting into position.

Spectators getting into position.

The safety car - Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano (don’t you just love the sound of that name?)

Team Malaysia getting ready to start…

Maserati Quattroporte – Medical Car.

This image was captured with some effort…

This too..

Pit crews in action… much easier to capture.

Team Ireland takes the chequered flag.

Crowd applauds Fairuz, despite coming in 10th. Drove with guts.

Team Jobstreet.com leaving the scene.