Indonesia’s Moreno Pratama has lifted his first ever HyperDrive Cities Championship (HDC) title.
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On 4 November, Pratama took the top spot on the podium at the annual HDC Championship and along with it the SGD$3,500 prize money.
Thailand’s Thanathip Thanalapanan finished in the runners-up position while Polish sim racer Kamil Pawlowski ended the championship in third spot.
This is the third year that the HDC Championship has been organised by Legion of Racers, which own the rights to the online street circuits which have been created for the series.
Said Moreno: “l did not expect to achieve my first win in this very competitive HyperDrive Cities Championship.
“I qualified really well and pushed really hard from the get-go.
“I am really happy with the result.”
This year’s challenge took place on the newly created Kuala Lumpur City Street Circuit.
The previous competitions had been held on the Orchard Road Street Circuit (2021) and on the Jakarta Semanggi Street Circuit (2022).
For the 2023 event, Moreno qualified for the final on pole position, and after a good start began to pull away from the rest of the pack and ended up taking the race eight seconds in front of his nearest challenger.
And while Moreno ended up being in a comfortable position to claim the top prize, the battle for second place was a lot more intense.
Thanalapanan, Pawlowski and along with them Fadhli Rachmat, Andika Rama Maulana and Daffa Ardiansa were all locked in an ongoing battle as they aimed for the second position throughout the half hour race.
In the end, the 2021 and 2022 champion Andika settled for seventh spot after Ardiansa was given a post race penalty due to a race incident.
Apart from Moreno, Thanalapanan earned SGD$2,500 while Pawlowski drove off with SGD$1,500 as prize money for their efforts.
Said Melvin Moh, Co-Founder of the Legion of Racers and HyperDrive Cities Championship, “Firstly, congrats to Moreno for winning his first HDC Championship title.
“Like our first two street tracks, the new Kuala Lumpur City Street Circuit managed to produce very exciting and close racing for the drivers and I’m sure it was an exciting race for all the viewers watching the race.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the sponsors and partners, especially BWT which came onboard this year.”
PHOTOS: LEGION OF RACERS / HYPERDRIVE CITIES
