Sy emerges fighting 2nd in Bahrain FBMW

Filipino race driver Tyson Sy enthralled the crowd of the inaugural Bahrain F1 Grand Prix last Sunday when he engaged veteran Chinese ace and pre-race favorite Marchy Lee of the Malaysia-based Meritus Racing in an exciting duel during the Formula BMW Asia supporting race.

The 16-year-old Sy, who drives for the newly organized Minardi Team Asia and is sponsored by San Miguel Corp. and supported by Demvels Motorsports and A-toy Body Kits, swapped the lead with Lee on three occasions on the 5.417-kilometer long Sakhir Circuit. In the end, Lee, a former European Formula Renault campaigner and winner of the 2002 Asian Formula 3 Grand Prix of Sepang, resorted to all of his cunning to hold the Filipino at bay until the checkered flag. Sy settled for a close second, while third place was claimed by Korean BMW E-Rain driver Kyong-Ouk You.

The action, which allowed Lee and Sy to show their skills on the world stage, brought the screaming Bahraini crowd to their feet and caught the attention of the F1 teams, which had their eyes glued to the TV monitors for the entire race.

"It was a great race. The fighting Tyson (Sy) was really good, very clean. He has really improved a lot since last year," said Lee. "I had to calm down and drive safely and not make any mistakes. Tyson did a very good race."

"It was a really exciting race," said Sy. "Yesterday I had a problem with my car, and I did only one lap. The mechanics did a very good job on the car, and today I got second. It was really fun to fight for first place with Marchy Lee."

BMW Motorsport director Mario Theissen, who presented the wards after the race, was impressed.

Theissen noted, "This race was really close up to the last corner, and I think we’re looking forward to a really exciting season."

The next leg of the Formula BMW Asia Series 2004 will be held at the Sepang F1 Circuit in Malaysia on May 7 to 9.