SEPANG, 21 July 2026 – With Round 3 of the Toyota Vios Gold Championship worth double the usual championship points, all guns are expected to come out blazing this weekend as the top seeded series contenders aim at extending their lead or keeping their title hopes alive.
The penultimate round of the championship will take on the full length of the 5.543 km Petronas Sepang International Circuit – as opposed to the ½ track format ran in the opening two rounds of the year – with drivers suiting up for a challenging full 1-hour race held on Saturday and Sunday. The race weekend is being held in conjunction with Round 3 of the Malaysian Touring Car Championship.
With two rounds completed, three former Rookie drivers from the Toyota GAZOO Racing Malaysia Young Talent Development Program are in contention for the overall championship titles in both the Super Sporting Class for professional and elite drivers, as well as the Sporting Class for amateurs.
In the Super Sporting Class, former 2022 Rookie champion and 2023 Sporting Class champion Nabil Azlan heads the overall point standings after two rounds with 58 points. Nine points adrift is Laser Motor Racing team mate Ady Rahimy while defending champion Freddie Ang representing Telagamas Toyota is in 3rd position with 32 points.
“The 1-hour race and full track format definitely makes the race even more challenging. It’ll greatly depend on consistency, who is able to manage their tyre wear well over the race distance, fitness, and very much weather conditions,” said Nabil who is gunning for his first Super Sporting Class title. He finished 4th in the overall standings last year, and 5th in his Class debut in 2024. He has so far raced to three 2nd places and one 3rd place in the first two rounds of this season.
Finishing 3rd overall last year, another strong contender for the Super Sporting Class title is Ady whose game of strategy over the last two rounds has earned him one race win and two 3rd place finishes in Rounds 1 and 2.
“We went into Round 2 strategically, finishing with as much points as we could but keeping in mind that outright victory would come with the severe consequences of having to carry more ballast (weight penalty) into Round 3. With double the points at stake in Round 3, it was a tactical decision to ensure we do not start the race weekend with a big disadvantage,” said Ady.
Consistency however, has been the long game for Ang whose championship nickname is “Mr Consistent”, and going by his results over the past nine seasons, it would be unwise to rule him out of contention. Ang won the Class in 2025, finished 3rd in 2024, 7th in 2023, 4th in 2022, 4th in 2021 and 3rd in 2020.
The race in the Sporting Class meanwhile, remains as close as ever with BAE Racing by ES Yang’s Justin Toh leading the overall point standings with 49 points, just three points ahead of former TGR Rookies Elson Lew of Hong Huat X Armada KK Racing with 46 points, and G-Mart Best Autosport’s Adam Mikail on 44 points.
Lew was placed 3rd overall in 2025, Adam was 5th overall, with Toh further behind in 6th overall.
In the Rookie Class, it is 17-year-old simulator and saloon car racer Imran Iskandar who currently leads the overall championship with 63 points albeit just marginally and two points ahead of Ervin Lim.
“It’s a good position to be in coming into Round 3, but I’m not yet thinking too much about the overall championship. Let’s just take it one race weekend at a time. All of us (the current season Rookies) have worked very hard to be where we are today and to be honest, every single individual is super competitive,” said Imran.
Imran has one race win, two 2nd place and one 3rd place finish under his belt after two rounds. Ervin, who is both a simulator racer and karter meanwhile, has one race win, one 2nd place and one third place finish to his credit. Currently 3rd in the point standings is 20-year-old Ngo Yong Jian who is a simulator racer and track day enthusiast,
Season 9 of the Toyota Vios Gold Championship (formerly known as the Vios Challenge) was first introduced in 2017 and is putting up a total of RM876,000 in total prize monies over four individual rounds. It remains as the longest running one-make production-based saloon car race series organized by a manufacturer in Malaysia.
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