Aston Martin Asia Cup Round 5 & 6 Sepang F1 Circuit Malaysia 12th & 13th July 2008

We had 2 testing and I was fastest. In qualifying I went out and had a problem with my handling I couldn't figure out what was wrong but when I came to the pits I found out that there was a air leak in the rear left tire. I went out again after pumping more air into the tire but within 2 laps it was the same. So I could only qualify 2nd Sasaki was first and Melvin was 3rd.

Round 5.
I got a good start but Sasaki got in to the lead but I thought with the incident in last race I should have more patience and as it was a 20 lap race I had enough time. On lap 9 I over took Sasaki on turn 4. It was great to beat him as he is the Japan GT 300 champion. I was leading the race until the 16th lap when my tire burst. I was so sad but came in to the pits changed the tire and went back. I knew I will have a problem in the championship as Sasaki will finish 1st and I will be back of the grid. But after a lap I saw Sasaki in the pits and after the race I came to know he also had a tire puncture. This was due to both us going wide in the last corner and as we were carrying lot of speed we were on the curbs and there was some big stones which we went on and that caused the problem. Any way I finished 9th and Sasaki 10th.
Melvin finished 1st Hammam 2nd and Stewart 3rd. I really wanted to finish the race in front of Sasaki but I was happy I could beat him and I did the fastest lap.

Round 6.
It started raining and we had a wet race. Sasaki and I started back of the grid. In the start I got blocked and Sasaki went in to the first cornet before me and in turn 3 Melvin had a big spin and I had to avoid him and Sasaki pulled away. As it was raining I took it easy as I knew even though I finish 2nd I will still lead the championship. Sasaki won I finished 2nd.
Any way I really enjoyed the race because this is the first time I have beaten Sasaki. My engineer Steve always said to me Sasaki is going to be our main rival so we have to beat him to keep the championship alive. I know now I can beat him and have to win rest of the races.

I got my engine back in time but we didn't have time to do testing and we had only 20 minutes for testing before qualifying. We had done few modifications for the aero dynamics to be competitive with the more powerful Cup S and the radical. Peter Hills was back with his Mazda so I had already 4 more powerful cars to beat.
Qualifying.
I just wanted to do 4 laps and I was 4th fastest. Hammam 1st Wira 2nd and Weng 3rd .
Race 1.
On the first lap the race was red flagged and while we were waiting it started to rain. So we all had to use wet tyers. In the start my car stopped and I couldn't start it for almost 1 minute. By the time I started every one has almost finished a lap but I did my best and finished 4th. 1st Hammam 2nd Weng 3rd Wira. I was very disappointed.

Race 2.
The circuit was just getting dried and we decided to go on slick tires but Wira and Chong used wet tires. My start was good and by the first corner I over took Hammam and Weng. Wira and Chong pulled away because they had wet tyers. It took almost 10 laps to get a dry line and by then Wira and Chong was not to be seen. Weng was just behind my tail and as there cars are more powerful I had a hard time protecting my position. On lap 14 I over took Chong and got blocked and Weng took the chance and over took me. I had 1 lap to go but couldn't get in front of Weng because on the straight he was very much faster. Wira won the race Weng 2nd and me 3rd. It was very disappointing and a hectic day as I had to do 4 races within few ours 2 Aston Martin races and 2 MSS races. Now I am 3rd in the championship 22 points behind Wira and 2 points behind Weng and just have one round left but I will not give up will try my best to win the championship for the 3rd year.

I must thank Speed Sri Lanka, Steve and VRD Motorsports for the great support without them I would not be able to do this and special thanks to Sri Lanka media and all my fans.