It is finally that time of the year again as we not only celebrate our nation’s Independence Day, but also where the best endurance racers make their pilgrimage to Sepang International Circuit for the annual Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race or known as the Sepang 12 Hour from this year onwards. The 15th running of this iconic endurance race in Malaysia promises 12 hours of intense racing and non-stop action across the challenging 5.543km circuit.
The GT3 category has always been the crowd’s favourite as it features hardcore version of the supercars we seen on the roads. And with local favourite Petronas Syntium Team no longer in the race, team Clearwater Racing’s #1 takes pole position to start the 12-hour race with an average lap time of 2:03.882, driven by Mok Weng Sun, Alif Hamdan and G. Bruni.
But team Craftbamboo with their high-pitched #7 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 will surely be giving constant pressure to the Singaporean-based team as they take the second position on the grid with an average qualifying time of 2:04.004. They are represented by the trio of Frank Yu, Stefan Mucke and Warren Luff.
Sitting on third position on the grid is another Ferrari 458 GT3 entrant from Clearwater Racing, driven by Richard Wee, Keita Sawa and Craig Baird, with Nexus Racing’s #27 driven by Adrian D’Silva, Melvin Moh and Dominic Ang sitting right beside them.
Down in the GTC category, Ashraff Dewal, Jacky Yeung and Marchy Lee of #69 Absolute Racing leads the class in their Audi R8 Cup, followed tightly by B-Quik’s #26 Henk J Kiks, Dainal Bilski and Dario Garcia Audi R8 Cup and Team NZ’s #777 Porsche Cup car driven by Will Bamber, John Curran, Graeme Dowsett and Yuhian Tan.
This year’s TP category sees a lot of entrants, with the pack being led by #77 Jim Hunter Motorsport’s Jim Hunter, Gavin Bullas and Grant Johnson in the Subaru, followed by ST Powered #22 Teh Kian Boon, Desmond Soh and Derrick Ang in the Honda Civic, and R Engineering’s #21 Lai Wee Sing, KK Soh and Gilbert Ang.
