Malaysian Pro Mazda Championship racer Weiron Tan.
PETALING JAYA: Weiron Tan has not given up on his bid to become the first Malaysian motorsports driver to win an overall championship title on American soil.
The 20-year-old will make a bold bid to win the last two races of the season to wrest the Pro Madza Championship title at Laguna Seca Circuit in California this weekend.
Uruguay’s Santiago Urrutia is the leader with 304 points, followed by American Neil Alberico (275) and Frenchman Timothe Buret (257).
Weiron, who’s driving for Andretti Autosport Team in his rookie season, is fourth with 253 points.
The overall winner of the 16-round championship is a Mazda scholarship worth US$590,300 (RM2.5mil) to race in the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires series next year.
“The Mazda Road to Indy scholarship programme is very important to the drivers who can’t afford to fund themselves. It is so competitive and at such a high level. It’s GP3 in this part of the world,” said Weiron.
“Mathematically, it’s still possible for me to bag the championship ... provided I win both races and set the fastest laps along the way for extra points.
“I also have to hope that the current leaders have a bad weekend and be out of the points.
“A top-three overall finish is within reach, but there’s nothing to lose for me to aim for the title,” added the Kuala Lumpur-born racer, who lost ground in the title chase after failing to finish on the podium in Rounds 13 and 14 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last month.
“If not, I would have been in a better position to catch up with them. I have the fastest car on the grid as I won four races and claimed six pole positions, but I also suffered a few retirements.”
