Dream start for Wicklow’s Max Hart at the 2024 TCR Asia Championship

The 23-year-old, who signed a new deal with Z-Speed Hyundai, ended the two-race weekend at the top of the standings following a huge win at Sepang.

The Baltinglass driver topped both rounds of qualifying for the opening race and set the pole with a lap of 2:24.500 thus beating teammate Zhang Zhen Dong by 1.6 seconds.

He led Zhang from the start while their teammate Hwang Doyun surged up from fifth to sit in third. Hart and Zhang traded the lead either side of a one-lap race stoppage.

The battle culminated in Zhang overtaking Hart in the penultimate lap to win the take the victory, with Hart holding onto second ahead of Hwang.

In the second race, Hart passed Zhang and Jiang Nan in lap 2, with Zhang moving into third soon afterwards.

Hwang built a comfortable gap of 3.8 seconds at the front over Hart who was chased by Zhang.

The Irishman was able to keep Zhang behind and finished second again behind Hwang, After the race, Hwang was handed a 30-second time penalty for a jump-start that dropped him to fourth, with Hart upgraded to being the winner.

As a result of his strong performances over the weekend, Max now leads the championship outright on 85 points, with Zhang in second on 82, and Umar Abdullah in third on 60.

TCR Asia will race again at Sepang on June 8/9.