Viper Niza Racing, the team running Malaysian driver Douglas Khoo, are planning to expand their operations in 2017, running cars in both TCR Asia and TCR Thailand.
Khoo has been a regular competitor in the TCR Asia Series in 2016 and 2017, competing in his SEAT León DSG car.
Now Khoo and his team, which is run in conjunction with Niza’s Niko Ode Praytino, plan to upgrade to a SEAT León TCR in TCR Asia, whilst using their existing DSG León for Khoo to race in events in TCR Thailand.
“I’m looking forward to the coming season,” said Khoo, who finished seventh overall in the TCR Asia standings, and second in the Amateur classification. “I’ve had a fantastic run with the TCR Asia Series, and have improved with almost every outing.
“There’s no question it has been challenging, but it’s a great concept, and fantastic that it opens windows to join the Thailand and Chinese TCR national championships, while also providing the opportunity to jump in besides the International Series guys if we want to go down that path.
“The racing is excellent, and whilst at times there can be contact, the thing I like the most is how fair the guys around you are. In many cases they’re like me, they’re self-funded, so they don’t want to be tearing up the cars, so the racing is close, it’s fair, and it’s a lot of fun.”
Viper Niza Racing are understood to be in discussion with a number of other drivers regarding the second seat. They have previously run a second car for Khoo’s driver coach, Roelof Bruins, which resulted in victory in the 2016 season opener.
WSC Asia CEO David Sonenscher praised Khoo’s efforts and added that he is exactly the type of driver that the series is trying to attract.
“Douglas and Viper Niza Racing are exactly what TCR is all about,” said Sonenscher. “They want good, clean, close racing at an affordable budget. Douglas was a real standout last year as he worked himself forward with every event to be capable of matching some of the more experienced guys by the end of the season. To see him progress through the field over the last two years has been fantastic to watch.
“After two seasons of the TCR Asia Series, 2017 will see us step up to a whole new level. There are a number of new teams coming in this year – teams which have moved across from other touring car and production car categories – along with a few brand new cars, and some brand new marques. It’s going to be an exciting season.”