Miranda emerges top Asian driver in China
Credit to Author: MIKE POTENCIANO| Date: Sat, 08 Jun 2019 16:18:58 +0000
The Philippines’ lone TCR Asia driver Daniel Miranda emerged the top Asian driver in the second round of the series held at the Shanghai International Circuit in China last weekend, despite grappling with set-up issues with his Hyundai I30 race car.
Miranda is also fourth in the overall standing of the series, where race drivers from nations outside of Asia are also competing.
Though still new in the touring car series and the high-speed track at Shanghai, Miranda continued to impress on his debut season by battling the fastest drivers in the second round of the series. He eventually emerged the top Asian driver after the second race.
“Although we encountered some challenges over the weekend, I’m very happy to be able make it onto the podium in Shanghai,” Miranda from Cebu said. “This is only my first year in TCR Asia and it feels amazing to be able to compete on the same level as the top three or four drivers on the grid who have more racing experience around the world. I learned a lot from them and hope to continue on learning for the next two races in Zhejiang (China) and Bangsaen (Thailand), which I have never visited before.”
Miranda admitted that his Eurasia Motorsport Team struggled with setting up his car and it took him several sessions to acquaint himself with the 5.4-kilometer Shanghai racing circuit originally tailored for Formula One racing. He admitted he couldn’t push his Hyundai race car to its limits with full confidence especially with the massive 21-car grid.
Miranda was able to set the eighth fastest time in qualifying for the first race and went up to sixth place after a good start. However, he slowly fell down to ninth place in the race and second in the Asian Drivers’ classification/standing. He blamed his car’s tires that lost grip as the race progressed.
The Cebuana Lhuillier-backed driver made up for lost ground the next day with a brilliant drive in the second race. Starting third at the starting grid, Miranda shot up to second place on the run to the first corner and was battling the top TCR drivers. However, Miranda fell back in the closing laps and crossed the finish line fifth overall. That performance landed him first place in the Asian Drivers’ class.
The Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Junior Driver racer currently sits fourth overall in the championship and extended his lead in the Asian Drivers’ standings by 29 points. The TCR Asia Series resumes on July 5 to 7 at the Zhejiang International Circuit.
“Daniel is showing a lot of improvement at every race and he continuously gets better,” explained coach and manager Roland Hermoso.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done, but it’s good to know that he’s already knocking on the doors of world class TCR drivers. It’s amazing what he has already achieved on his debut season and we’re looking forward to see him on the podium again in the final two rounds in 2019,” he added.
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