Kevin Gleason says it is ‘amazing’ to return to winning ways in the TCR International Series in Malaysia, after the American scored his third win in the category at the Sepang International Circuit.
Gleason is competing in his second meeting since returning to the championship, having missed five events in the middle of the season due to budgetary reasons.
The American racer started the second race at Sepang from second on the grid, and he took the lead on lap four when early leader Tin Sritrai left just enough of a gap for Gleason to sneak his Honda Civic up the inside at the hairpin.
Thereafter Gleason withstood pressure from reigning champion Stefano Comini for the lead, with the Swiss racer later being hit with a post-race penalty anyway.
The win is the first in over a year for Gleason, who previously won in Austria and Singapore in the inaugural TCR season in 2015.
“It feels amazing to be back and to get a win,” said Gleason. “It was really frustrating not to do the whole season and so I’m grateful I could come back with WestCoast to race at Singapore and here in Sepang.
“With every race I missed, I dreamed about coming back with the team, so I’m really grateful I could reward them with a win like this.
“I had to work for the victory and that made it all the more satisfying. Soon after I took the lead, I saw some action going on behind me, but I could concentrate on staying out of trouble and hold on to win.”