Round 1 of the Singapore Electric Buggy National Series was held at the Urban PlaySpace astro-turf offroad circuit in downtown Singapore on 31 January. A small but quality field participated in the seasonâ™s opening event, including Singaporeâ™s touring car ace, Nicholas Lee.
The big challenge for all was managing the high traction surface of the tight circuit. In the 4WD Class, Dominic drove his XB4 2016 with confidence to win the first 2 rounds of qualifying to secure TQ honours. In Leg 1 of the A-Main, Dominic weathered the pressure from Scott Pettet to secure the win. In Leg 2, a misjudged jump by Dominic in the tricky double-chicane-double section of the track gave the win to Scott, setting up a showdown in Leg 3. Dominic again got off to a confident start in Leg 3, with Scott in hot pursuit. Holding back his adrenaline to avoid mistakes, Dominic was able to take a good win in Leg 3 and claim his and XRAYâ™s first win in the Singapore Nationals.
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In the 2WD Class, the man to beat was Nicholas Lee, who was hoping to emulate TC ace Marc Rheinardâ™s heroics in the EOS the same weekend. With his trademark smooth driving, Nicholas took the TQ by coming back from a Round 1 DNF to win Round 2 and 3 of qualifying. Esmail Apandi would line up 2nd on the grid, with Dominic Quek in the XB2 Carpet Edition in 3rd. In Leg 1, Nicholas and Esmail battled throughout, with both showing quick reflexes on the tight circuit. Nicholas would win Leg 1 by 3.5 sec margin over Esmail. In Leg 2, Esmail would turn the tables to win and bring the fight over to the final leg. In Leg 3, Esmail would spring a surprise move to move past pole position Nicholas to finally lockdown the win in an intense battle.
Final results:
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4WD Class A-Main
1. Dominic Quek (TQ) â“ XRAY XB4
2. Scott Pettet
3. Danial Miswan
4. Adib Aiman
5. Terence Low
6. Ismail Saheeb
7. Jeremy Hong
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2WD Class A-Main
1. Esmail Apandi
2. Nicholas Lee (TQ) 3. Dominic Quek â“ XRAY XB2 Carpet Edition
4. Scott Pettet
5. Eugene Goh
6. Jeremy Hong
7. Terence Low
8. Adib Aiman
