The Serpent Open 2011 took place on January 16th, 2011 at the East Coast Park Raceway. It was perfect day for racing with lots of sunshine and there were over 50 drivers attending this race, mainly from Singapore.
Qualifying
The first round of qualifying started at about 10:30AM. XRAY driver Jessie Wu managed to set the pace with a fast timing. By the second round, the traction had improved and many drivers managed to improve their times. Erwin Luhur held a provisional pole position after the second round, with teammate Jessie Wu in 3rd place, Sam Craig in 5th place, Tom Goh in 6th place, and Bobby Chan in 8th place.
In the last and final round of qualifying, many drivers again improved with XRAY driver Erwin Luhur setting the fastest lap and thus securing the TQ position. There were a total of 5 NT1 in the top 10 position and the final qualifying orders after 3 round were as follows:
Qualifying order:
1. Erwin Luhur XRAY NT1
2. Nelson Lee 3. Jesse Wu XRAY NT1
4. Nordin 5. Sam Craig XRAY NT1
6. Tom Goh XRAY NT1
7. Kaz Lee 8. Bobby Chan XRAY NT1
9. Othman
10. Yusoff
(click to enlarge)
Final
In the 45min A-main final, Erwin Luhur had a great start and started to pull away from the pack almost immediately. Teammates Jesse Wu, Sam Craig and Tom Goh managed to stay close to the leading cars. During the first re-fuel, Erwinâ™s engine stalled during refuelling and because of this he dropped a few positions. Bobby Chan had a technical problem and had to retire early from the race. Just before the 2nd fuel stop, Erwin Luhur almost caught up to the leader but had to come in for a fuel stop.
During the second fuel stop, an unfortunate event happened to Erwin Luhur again; his engine died but his mechanic managed to start it up again very quickly but he dropped to 4th place. Meanwhile, Jesse Wu, Sam Craig and Tom Goh were driving a consistent race and managed to hold their positions until the end. Erwin Luhur drove without any mistakes, managed to catch up, and finished the race in 1st place.
(click to enlarge)
Final result :
1. Erwin Luhur XRAY NT1
2. Jesse Wu XRAY NT1
3. Sam Craig XRAY NT1
4. Tom Goh XRAY NT1
5. Othman
6. Kaz Lee
7. Nordin
8. Nelson Lee
9. Yusoff 10. Bobby Chan XRAY NT1
