Sandy Kraowkaew Stuvik competed in the first race of the season for the Thailand Super Series last weekend at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram. After a long wait, B-Quik Absolute Racing was ready and eager to start the racing season.
With Official Practice taking place on Friday, Sandy and his teammate Daniel Bilski reacquainted themselves with the Audi R8 GT3 Evo. Sandy was quickly up to speed and worked well with his remote engineer to set up the car for the hot conditions at the Chang International Circuit. Sandy managed P2 and P1 in Friday’s sessions respectively.
“I’m happy with the feeling of the car in today’s practices. It was a great feeling to drive my Audi R8 GT3 Evo again. It was easy to get back up to speed and team did a great job all day,” Sandy said.
Come Saturday, Daniel Bilski went out for Q1 to set his position for the start of race 1. The Australian driver qualified in P4. Sandy continued into Q2 to set the starting grid for the start of Sunday’s race. The Thai driver qualified in P3.
“I had some traffic on my fastest laps, so we could have had a better position. Nevertheless, I’m still satisfied with the performance of the car and I was pleased with the handling. We can race from here,” Sandy explained.
Daniel Bilski took the start in Race 1 on Saturday afternoon. After a hectic start, Daniel was involved in an incident in turn 3 and fell to the rear of the field. During the pit-stops, Sandy got into the car in P13. After running a great stint, Sandy managed to finish the race in P5.
“A huge thank you to the team for making the Audi R8 GT3 Evo such a pleasure to drive. I had a clear track in front of me and just focused on doing fast, consistent laps. I’m happy with my pace and the development of the setup. We feel confident with the new Hankook tire, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race,” Sandy declared.
On Sunday afternoon, Sandy climbed into his Audi for the final time of the weekend. After being leapfrogged at the start, Sandy found himself behind the overpowered Lamborghini and struggled to get past with the immense top speed difference.
However, after a few laps the Thai driver managed to get past and began to catch the three cars in front. With all the drivers being Pro-rated, it was difficult to make in-roads to them, but Sandy remained consistent and stayed with the top group.
Into the pit-stops, Daniel took over and got up to speed for the final stint. After some competitors faced penalties for exiting the pitlane under the mandatory stop time, Sandy and Daniel were promoted to 1st place. Unfortunately Daniel could not hold off the fast charging Ferrari and ultimately had to settle for P2.
“A win was possible today but we will regroup and refocus for the next round in 2 weeks’ time. It was such a good feeling to drive again and I’m happy that we could challenge for the win today.” Sandy said.
The next round will take place in Buriram once again, from the 12-15 November.
Sandy Kraokaew Stuvik is honored to be 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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