The third round of the 2022 Thailand Super Series took place at Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand. Sandy entered the weekend in second position in the championship. Friday's official practices saw strong form from B-Quik Absolute Racing Team's Audi R8 GT3 Evo II's, with Sandy topping the first practice.
Saturday morning saw the qualifications begin, with Sandy's teammate Akash Nandy taking Pole Position for Race 1. Sandy's quest for Pole in Race 2 was compromised by traffic on both his fast laps, howvever, Sandy did manage to secure a 3rd place starting position for Sundays race.
Race 1 took place on Saturday afternoon, with Sandy's teammate Akash Nandy taking the start. After a great start, Akash led the field for his entire stint. When the pit window opened the Malaysian driver came in and Sandy got in to complete the rest of the race. With a long pit time penalty for the pair for being Silver drivers, Sandy exited the pit and rejoined the race in 3rd position. After hunting down and gaining 2nd place, the gap to the leader would be too large to reclaim with only a few minutes left in the race. In an unbelievable turn of events the leading car ran out of fuel on the last lap, which gave Sandy and Akash their first win of the season in Thailand Super Series, and also the lead of the championship. "A very positive day for us today, we really needed this after our luck in Bangsaen. Now we are back in the fight and will continue doing our best on track. We are up against a more powerful car and we struggle a lot on the straights comparatively but we just have to try to outdrive them." Says Sandy.
Race 2 took place at noon on Sunday, with Sandy taking the start from 3rd position. After a fantastic start, Sandy took the lead into the first turn, but with a narrow line was overtaken into turn 3. Sandy remained in 3rd position for the duration of his stint. When the pit window opened, Sandy came in and Akash took the wheel for the remainder of the race. Akash managed to reel in and overtake 2nd place. The leaders however were yet again too far up the road. Ultimately, Akash brought the #25 Audi home to claim 2nd place, to cap off a positive and points-rewarding weekend. "We truly got all we could out there today, the other car just has too much power on us and with as many straights as Buriram has, we are finding it an uphill battle to breach that gap. But we will not give up, now we focus for the final round of the year in December." Explains Sandy after the race.
The fourth and final round of the Thailand Super Series will take place at Chang International Circuit from the 8 -11 December.
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, Hype Thailand, Dacon Trading, Thaiwings Travel Agency, the Sports Authority of Thailand, and the Royal Automobile Association of Thailand.
Source: Stuvik Racing Project
