The panel-bashing motorsport of Thailand

​Launched six years ago, the Thailand Super Series (TSS) replaced their Supercar championship and the sport is quickly growing not only in its homeland, but around the world.

The calendar for TSS consists of five rounds, and the third event held at the now FIA Grade 3 Bangsean track is helping put the sport on the map. There are even plans to introduce open-wheelers as series vice president, Preeda Tantemsapya explains. 

"Our last race in October (this year) we will have Formula Ford there, they contacted us and would like to join as a support race."

"We would like eventually to have Formula Three in Bangsean, but we are quiet skeptical that our first step shouldn't be the highest level, we would like to have a slower open-wheeler before we reach for the top," he said.

Currently, the TSS is made up of a number of categories, including the Super Eco, the Super Production, Super Compact, the Super 2000, Super Pickup, TA2 (Trans Am), GT4, GT3 and a handful of others.

Acting as the entry-point to the series is the Eco cars, which consist mainly of Honda Brios, a small hatchback that slots below the Jazz model.

Powered by a 1.2-litre engine, the Brio maxes out at 120km/h and is one of the loudest cars on track, behind the TA2 Camaro, Challenger and Mustangs.

There’s also a mixture of talent in the Eco field as there’s no entry fee, so it attracts a lot of amateur racers.

This can result in chaotic racing; the first race was red flagged when someone rolled their car and then another crashed heavily into the wall after the restart.

We attended the Super Series event at the Bira International circuit, a short track (2.41km) that was built back in 1986.

For several reasons (including its narrow width) the GT3 cars are classified as too fast for Bira and weren’t a part of the event.

Instead, the uniquely Thai championships ran at Bira along with the expanding TA2 as the headline act.

"This year the cars (TA2) have grown from three to nine with more potentially coming in by the end of this year, so we can to see at least 15 TA2 cars racing in 2019," Preeda said.

The coolest series is by far the Super Pickups, which unlike Australia’s SuperUtes, these slammed dual-cabs look like purpose-built race cars.

These drivers also don’t mess around, even in the practice sessions the guys aren’t afraid of getting sideways or trying to overtake a large group on the main straight.

In qualifying it was a speculator sight to see two of the utes' engines explode at the exact same point within a couple of seconds of each other.

In the race, we were on our feet every single lap as the lead cars continued to swap positions and push one another right to the finish line. It was edge of your seat stuff. 

Overall, the motorsport in Thailand is something a revhead needs to experience. You won't see this type of racing in any other country. 

With international interest growing, open-wheelers coming to the Bangsean track next year and more planned events, the Super Series will only continue to get better.

What's your favourite motorsport in Thailand? Let us know in the comments.