Video – A-Main Leg 2

Action from A2 of Modified Touring Car at the 2025 Electric Singapore International Challenge (eSIC) at RCMC, Singapore.

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Video – A-Main Leg 1

Action from the opening A-Main of Modified Touring Car at the 2025 Electric Singapore International Challenge (eSIC) at RCMC, Singapore.

View full results here

Sobue cruises to eSIC A1 win ahead of Hagberg

Having feared they might wake to rain, racers at the Electric Singapore International Challenge (eSIC) have instead been greeting by the hottest day of the week in Singapore however the hot humid conditions still weren’t enough to stop the reign of Axon’s Akio Sobue at RCMC as he took a convincing A1 win ahead of Xray’s Alexander Hagberg.  Leading away the international field, Top Qualifier Sobue and his team-mate Hayato Ishioka pulled clear with Hagberg getting by team-mate Nicholas Lee early on.  While running on used tyres, Lee was holding fourth but then a mistake half way into the race dropped the home hero to last.  While the race was ticking off laps, Hagberg would suddenly find himself with Ishioka.  Unfortunately the hot conditions causing the Japanese driver to lose power resulting in Hagberg making a little contact as the came onto the straight.  Once into P2, Hagberg could do nothing about Sobue who took the win by 2 & a half seconds.  Benefiting from Ishioka and Lee’s issues, having lined up P6 Atsushi Hara came through with his Schumacher to complete the Top 3 just ahead of E.C Kim’s Awesomatix.

Asked if his win was as easy at it looked, Sobue replied, ‘It was Easy but not easy’ adding ‘the conditions today is completely different we have both sunshine and hot conditions and that is something we didn’t get to practice in this week, but I didn’t make any changes to the car from yesterday and it was still easy to drive.’  Asked if over heating his tyres was a concern, Sobue said, ‘I pushed for the first two minutes but after I had a gap I drove a little more safe to help the tyres.’  Looking to A2, Sobue said he hopes he can ‘just do the same again’.

Summing up his first final, Hagberg said, ‘I was on new tyres obviously and I was able to pass Nicholas early on.  I think I lost a little time at the start of the run but then I was basically the same pace as Hayato but not quick enough to catch him.  We stayed at the same gap for most of the run and then he had some sort of issue and I was able to move up to second but I need to change something small on the car to pick up a bit more space to be able to battle for Top 2 in the remaining finals.’  Asked about tyre choice for A2, the Swede replied, ‘I need to discuss with my team-mate and see what he plans and then do the opposite.’

‘Starting from 6th you just have to wait for something to happen and it did.  I am going to do the same thing for the next one, wait!’, that was Hara’s reaction to his P3 in A1.  On today’s conditions, he added, ‘the car feels the same as yesterday but it is much hotter temperature today so if I overdrive then it’s easy for the tyres to overheat.  I think this is the only thing I have to do, be careful not to push too much.  I’m sure everyone go new tyres the next one and I think I have top keep one more set for A3.