Team Legion of Racers claims the top three spots at the Toyota GAZOO Racing GT Cup Asia 2023

Team Legion of Racers (LOR) secured all podium spots in the Toyota GAZOO Racing (GR) GT Cup Asia 2023 which played out across three heart-thumping races on Sunday, 24 September 2023 inKuala Lumpur.

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Andika Rama Maulana(Indonesia), Luis Moreno (Philippines) and Fadtris Isa (Singapore) finished in first, second and third spot respectively ensuring that LOR’s sim racers ended the event with a clean sweep.

15 local qualifiers – fromIndonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand – had pit their driving skills, dexterity, and wits against one another, as they battled for the regional championship title and a spot in the Global Finals.

This year's GR GT Cup Asia saw a change in race format where all regional finalists participated in a total of three races on PlayStation®'s "Gran Turismo 7".

The first race, played onMount Panorama with GT Supra Gr.4 cars, began with a 5-minute time attack as a qualifying round to determine grid positions, followed by a 15-minute race.

The second race on the TokyoExpressway – East Clockwise track was played with Race 1's grid positions reversed using GR Corolla cars over a 25-minute race time.

The third and final race, played on the legendary Spa Francorchamps racetrack with GR010 Hybrid Hypercars, once again began with a 5-minute time attack qualifying round, before concluding with a 35-minute race amidst dynamic weather.

The championship was determined from cumulative points earned through finishing positions in all three races, the first five positions in qualifying rounds, and bonus points for the fastest laps in each of the three races.

Indonesia's Andika came out tops with a total of 65 points throughout the competition.

Slow and steady won Rama the race, with the seasoned racer clocking 4th and 5th places inRace 1 and 2 before boldly claiming pole position in Race 3 by maximizing his time on track against increasingly bad weather.

"I knew that my pace in the final race was not as good as Luis and Dhanesh, so even though it started to rain, the wetness on track was low, I gambled on another two laps with hard tires while everyone went to pit,” he said.

“I tried to manage my paceafter pitting, and it paid off," Rama recounted.

Filipino Luis Moreno similarly bided his time, securing 6th and 4th place in earlier races before scorching to pole position in Race 3's qualifying round, and maintaining his podium spot in the race to come out overall second in the championship with 52 points.

Andika Rama and Luis Moreno will represent Asia and race against some of the world's best e-Motorsportracers in the TGR GT Global Finals slated for November.  

Prizes were awarded to the top three racers (by individual cumulative points earned) and top three country teams (by total points earned per country).

Rama (Indonesia) earnedUSD6,000 with a final tally of 65 points, Moreno (Philippines) earned USD3,000 with 52 points, while Fadtris (Singapore) earned USD1,500 with 49 points.

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