After an incredible week of racing, the Bangsaen Grand Prix culminated in a great race for the hundreds of thousands of spectators across the 5-day event. Sandy Kraokaew Stuvik recorded a 2nd place finish, missing out on the victory by mere inches at the line.
Wednesday morning saw the first Official Practice session on the famed Bangsaen Street Circuit after a nearly 3-year long hiatus due to Covid. Eager to test himself once again on this FIA Grade 3 street circuit, Sandy recorded the fastest lap time in the session.
Thursday morning hosted the second Official Practice session and once again it was Sandy that topped the timesheets, showing that the B-Quik Absolute Racing team prepared Audi R8 GT3 Evo II felt right at home at the bumpy street circuit.
Qualifying 1 and 2 for the event would take place on Friday afternoon, and the #25 pairing of Sandy and his new teammate for the season Akash Nandy from Malaysia, were ready to take to show what they could do. Akash started Q1, and claimed a sensational Pole Position, ensuring the #25 would get the best grid slot for the start of Race 1.
Sandy then jumped in for Q2 and once again topped the timesheets, proving that he is the king of Bangsaen. “Very happy with both mine and Akash’s times in the session, we have a great package here with the Audi R8 Evo II and of course that is also thanks to B-Quik Absolute Racing for providing a perfect race car as usual. We did our job today, so we can be happy.” Explains Sandy after the session.
Race 1 took place on Saturday afternoon, with Akash taking the wheel for the start. After a less than ideal start, the Malaysian driver found himself in 4th position, but managed to work his way up to 2nd before the pit-stop window, where he handed the wheel over to Sandy to finish off the race. With a few positions lost in the pits due to the duo’s long pit-stop addition time for being a Silver-Silver driver pairing, Sandy exited the pits in 4th position and began his climb back up the order.
A safety car was deployed after an incident which bunched up the field and played into Sandy’s hands. He managed to pick off a few positions, and the only car ahead of him was the leader. An intense and exciting final lap saw Sandy make a move into the final corner and have a better exit towards the finish line for a photo finish, but Sandy would just not have enough power to complete the move. “I’m satisfied with that, I think it was the most we could do today and I really gave it my all but the reality is we are underpowered on the straights, but we gain in the corners. That’s racing sometimes but I think it was good entertainment for everybody watching.” Says Sandy.
The final race of the weekend took place on Sunday afternoon and Sandy was in the #25 Audi R8 GT3 Evo II for the start. Sandy would start in 4th position after a penalty from the stewards after qualifying. Nevertheless, the Thai driver used this to his advantage and managed to get up to 2nd position after the first turn. From there it was a consistent stint from Sandy, but he was unable to catch the leading car which was miraculously a second faster than the day before. During the pit-stop window Sandy handed over the car to Akash who continued the duo’s efforts in 2nd place.
After a flawless drive from the Malaysian driver maintaining 2nd place and closing the gap the leader, the #25 B-Quik Absolute Racing Audi suffered a right driveshaft failure, ending the race for them with just 6 minutes left on the clock. “It hurts when this happens, it would have been another solid 18 points for us today but it wasn’t meant to be. We did our best, and we can be proud of that. It was awesome to be back racing on the streets of Bangsaen, and to be back with B-Quik Absolute Racing Team. The year is not over, and now our focus is on the next race in Buriram!” Says Sandy after an amazing event.
Sandy Kraokaew Stuvik is supported by The Pizza Company, B-Quik, Audi Sport Asia, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Jet8 Aviation, Thai Airways, Puma Thailand, Dacon Trading, Thaiwings Travel Agency, the Sports Authority of Thailand, and the Royal Automobile Association of Thailand.
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