Hayden Haikal powered his way to victory in the Sporting class category of the Toyota Vios Challenge earlier today following an impressive start-to-finish lead. You’ve probably not heard of Hayden, especially if you don’t follow local/regional karting championships, but what makes his win special is the man’s age. Correction: the boy’s age – because Hayden is just 14-years old.

This is his maiden race in a tin top too and bagging the top step of the podium in a vehicle that he cannot legally drive on open roads make it especially rewarding. Hayden completed the 20-lap race more than seven seconds in front of his nearest competitor Kenneth Koh, who the 14-year old had passed at the start from his second position on the grid.

“I got a good start, but honestly I was very nervous as the race unfolded. I was very worried about making a mistake but in the end everything worked out well. It’s an amazing feeling to win my first ever saloon car race.”

The rest of the podium for Sporting class was occupied by Kenneth Koh and Eric Yong.

The Super Sporting class as usual delivered plenty of action, with the victory decided after a tight four-way battle that saw Alif Hamdan crossing the finish line first ahead of Syafiq Ali. But later both received penalties – Alif due to a jumpstart and Syafiq because of a technical infringement, the latter getting him a disqualification. Thus the final result is Freddie Ang declared as winner, followed by Alif Hamdan and Boy Wong.

As for the Promotional class, Aiman Tino fought back after losing his first position at the start to Diana Danielle and piled on the pressure until the latter had to concede. “There was really nothing much I could do. Aiman was definitely quicker and rather than risk being pressured into making a mistake, I felt the most sensible thing to do was to move aside,” said Diana who despite yielding to Aiman, consolidates her grip on the overall point standings. With one more race to run today, she could be crowned the overall champion in the Promotional Class.

The podium placing in the Promotional class was made up of Aiman Tino in first, Diana in second, and Akim Ahmad in third.

The Vios Challenge is part of the Toyota Racing Festival and is happening until late today at the Sepang International Racing Circuit.