Daniel Miranda has now truly earned his place amongst the top drivers in the TCR Asia Series.
Coming from a successful debut in Malaysia last month, the Filipino driver repeated his breakthrough performance with yet another good showing last May 2 to 4 in tricky weather conditions at the Zhuhai International Circuit.
Unfortunately, the young 22-year-old was unable to convert his third row start into a podium in Race 1.
Miranda rocketed off the starting line and managed to pick up several places in the first sequence of corners. However, clutch issues ended his race after just one lap and put his hunt for the championship on hold.
Backed by Cebuana Lhuillier, Miranda would get another shot at a strong result in Race 2 on Saturday. He took a more cautious start this time as not to damage the clutch on his i30 N TCR and fought his way through the field from the back. Light rain then began to fall on the circuit which caught out several more experienced drivers in the tricky conditions. Miranda capitalized on the opportunity to move up several positions as he skillfully drove on slicks in the wet before the Safety Car was called out. After the restart, the Eurasia Motorsport driver carried one last attempt to get onto the podium and successfully took 3rd place overall and 1st of the Asian drivers.
“This is quite a feat for Daniel, Cebuana Lhuillier is very proud of what he has accomplished and we are also honored to witness such exceptional talent in his field. His podium finish is indicative of his talent and grit to represent the Philippines in the international scene. We look forward to his succeeding races.” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, President and CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier.
With Daniel Miranda’s successive podiums, he is now 4th in the Overall Drivers’ Championship just six points behind the nearest European driver. He also leads the Asian Drivers’ standings by 22 points. There’s now a short break until the TCR Asia Series resumes on June 1 and 2 at the Shanghai International Circuit.
Just recently, Daniel Miranda earned a spot in the newly launched junior driver program of Hyundai Motorsports which entitles him to receive support from Hyundai Motorsport’s Customer Racing Department on and off the race track. Daniel Miranda is now among the ranks of other promising drivers in the world, from which he will draw experience from. The membership to the program also entitles Miranda to media coaching and other perks.
“I am really happy with my performance all weekend and to be able to race alongside TCR champions. I learned a lot from them in Zhuhai and hope that I can use this for the upcoming races. Thank you to everyone at Eurasia Motorsport as well as the Hyundai Motorsport engineers for giving me a great car and to Cebuana Lhuillier for their support. It was unfortunate that we had a problem in the first race, but it feels good to be on the podium again. I’m looking forward to the next race in Shanghai.” said the Cebuano driver regarding his latest performance in the race.
