Proton R3 Racing, twice overall winner of the prestigious Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race (MMER) crown, has added the Sepang 1000 Kilometer (S1K) crown after its drivers scored a sensational 1-2 finish in the shorter endurance race at Sepang International Circuit last night. Syafiq Ali and Super GT driver Morio Nitta took their Satria Neo to victory; completing the 181-laps in 8 hours 25 minutes 6.699 seconds; concluding a memorable year for the team and Syafiq, who was crowned last month as the Malaysian Super Series (MSS) overall champion for the Malaysian Touring Car Challenge category; winning it with team-mate James Veerapan after winning four of five rounds this season.
James, who partnered rookie Masedenial Ali Maskamal Khan in a Proton Preve, took second after completing 180 laps in 8 hours 26 minutes 55.674 seconds; finishing ahead of defending champions Type R Racing Team, which was gunning for a hattrick after winning the inaugural race in 2009. Instead, it was the factory works team of Proton R3 Racing, which started from second place on the front grid, which celebrated victory with a grand double as the Kuala Lumpur-based ruing a missed opportunity after for long parts of the race. First in 2009 and 2011 and second overall in 2010, Type R Racing, which boasted the awesome skills of Boy Wong Yew Choong, Lai Wee Sing and Soh Kee Koon, had to be contended with third place as they only managed 179 laps to record their worst finish in the event.
Despite putting the Preve machine to test in the competition for the first time, Veerapan and Masedenial were impressive to finish third in a field of top Malaysian drivers and two other factory works team – the Honda Malaysia Racing Team and Fawster Motorsports, which was supported by Mazda Malaysia.
Flagged off at 12.02pm, the race had pole-sitter and 2010 champion Kegani Racing – featuring Kenny Lee and Australians Chris O’Shannessy and Jim Hunter, leading the race until Lap 30 when their 1800cc Toyota Celica encountered a left rear tyre puncture as it entered Turn 2; forcing an unscheduled stop in the pits. Honda Malaysia Racing Team (HMRT) took fifth place through the partnership of Tengku Ezan Ley and Farriz Fauzy in a Honda Jazz.
SEPANG 1000 KILOMETER RACE – TOP 10 FINISHERS
Sepang International Circuit – 5.543km
1. Syafiq Ali/Morio Nitta (Satria Neo) 181 laps – 8:25:06.699 seconds
2. James Veerapan/Masedenial Ali (Proton Preve) 180 laps
3. Lai Wee Sing/Soh Kee Koon/Boy Wong Yew Choong (Toyota Altis) 179 laps
4. Keifli Othman/A.Kesamoorthy/Akash Nandy (Suzuki Swift) 177 laps
5. Tengku Ezan Ley/Farriz Fauzy (Honda Jazz) 177 laps
6. Ahmad Faizry/Juzaili Jasmay/Kosmas Kalaitzidis (Satria Neo) 175 laps
7. Chin Hwa Lip/Admi Shahrul Ahmad Safian (Suzuki Swift) 172 laps
8. Gilbert Lim/Timothy Lam/Edwin Yow/Tan Yean Ming (Suzuki Swift) 168 laps
9. Desmond Khoo/Teo Jon Tatt/Chong Boon Kiat (Suzuki Swift) 168 laps
10. Sutan Mustaffa Salihin/Kok Pak Chiang/Siah Woei Pyng (Proton Gen 2) 168 laps
