Weiron Tan

Weiron Tan
Nationality Malaysia Malaysian
Born (1994-12-03) 3 December 1994
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Pro Mazda Championship career
Current team Team Pelfrey

Weiron Tan (born 3 December 1994, in Kuala Lumpur) is a Malaysian race car driver. He was first introduced to go-karts at the age of 13 when his father brought him and his siblings to the Shah Alam Stadium Circuit.[1] He was then spotted by racing veteran and former Asian Formula 2000 Champion driver Ng Wai Leong,[2] who persuaded Weiron to pursue the motorsport further. Taking his advice, Weiron Tan joined the City Karting Team in 2008 to get a feel of competitive racing.

Weiron Tan has excelled and matured in the short span of 2 years, surpassing some of his older and more experienced peers.[3] Since 2009, he has had podium finishes in almost all the races he has competed in. In 2010 at the age of 15, Weiron Tan was the first Malaysian Champion in the PLUS Yamaha SL International Challenge, despite competing in the senior category meant for drivers aged 17 and above.[4][5]

In 2011, Weiron made his racing debut in Europe in KF2, competing in the WSK Series under the Works Kosmic Racing Kart Team.[6][7] He also raced in the Asian Karting Open Championship (AKOC) under the AxleBHP Racing Team and the Lotus SuperCup Asia – GT 4 Series in 2010.

Weiron is also the only Malaysian among 6 other young drivers accepted in the AirAsia Team Lotus Driver Development Program in 2011.[8]

In 2012 Weiron competed a part-season of the single-seater championship JK Asia Series. In 2013 he took part in selected rounds of Formula Gulf 1000, the series in which he scored his first Formula race victory in Abu Dhabi. He followed that up with a double race win at the next meet and a fourth win at the season finale in Dubai, taking four victories from a possible six.

In April 2013 Weiron embarked on the Protyre Formula Renault Championship, the UK based junior single-seater Formula. He made a huge impact, scoring five race wins and four podiums.

2014 saw him move up to the ATS Formel 3 Cup. The start of the season proved challenging as he acclimatised to the new series, but he rounded out the year with a string of superb results, including two wins in the season finale weekend at Hockenheim.

Ahead of the 2015 season, Weiron made the move to the USA for the Pro Mazda Championship, a series which forms a major step in the Road to Indy programme. Ahead of the start of the season, he competed in the five-race Winterfest, a key learning opportunity for him to compete in the cars. He immediately impressed, scoring two dominant race wins and three second places on his way to taking vice-champion honours. In the main series he had a successful rookie year, finishing fourth in the standings, scoring four victories along the way. He continues with the series in 2016, joining championship winning outfit Team Pelfrey.

Career highlights

2010
PLUS Yamaha SL International Challenge — Champion
PLUS Yamaha SL Cup Championship – Champion
Asian Karting Open Championship – Vice Champion
2011
Malaysian Super Series sports production — Champion
Lotus Supercup Asia GT4 - Champion
2013
Formula Gulf 1000 - Won 4/6 races
Protyre Formula Renault UK 2.0 - Vice Champion
2014
ATS German Formula 3 - 3rd Rookie, 5th overall
2015
Winterfest Pro Mazda Championship - Vice Champion
Pro Mazda Championship - 4th overall

Pro Mazda Championship

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points
2015 Andretti Autosport STP
16		 STP
15		 LOU
2		 LOU
C		 BAR
1*		 BAR
14		 IMS
1*		 IMS
4		 IMS
21		 LOR
1*		 TOR
13		 TOR
2		 IOW
1		 MOH
6		 MOH
7		 LAG
5		 LAG
9		 4th 282
2016 Team Pelfrey STP
5		 STP
3		 ALA
4		 ALA
10		 IMS
 IMS
 LOR
 ROA
 ROA
 IOW
 TOR
 TOR
 MOH
 MOH
 LAG
 LAG
 5th 69

NOTE: The first Indianapolis Motor Speedway race was scored as the second NOLA Motorsports Park race because of weather.

References

  1. ↑ Tan Kar Wei, "Young driver aims for Europe", The Star — Metro, 4 December 2010
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ JuEnn & Shantee, "Life in the fast lane – Weiron Tan", KLue, 14 February 2011
  4. ↑ Haziq Ahmad, "The Wei to Go", The Star – R.AGE, 16 February 2011
  5. ↑ "Team Lotus expands Young Driver Program", The F1 Times, 2 April 2011
  6. ↑ "Kosmic Kart Racing Department 2011"
  7. ↑ Arnaz M. Khairul , "Team Lotus expand junior driver scheme", New Sunday Times — Motorsports, 3 April 2011
  8. ↑ "Driver Development Program Launched in Putrajaya", 2 April 2011

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.