Proton R3 secures Sepang 1000KM Race win with a fantastic 1-2 finish!

Before we bid goodbye to 2014, we make our way once again to Sepang International Circuit for the sixth edition of the Sepang 1000KM endurance race. Promising great action year after year, the 2014 edition is being brought to life with three works team joining the race to find out who has the best man and machine to dominate Sepang and survive the gruelling 181 laps of the race.

Despite not performing at its best in the previous 2014 Malaysian Super Series rounds, Proton R3 was determined to nail this one down as they managed to secure the first two grid positions with both their race machines. James Veerapen/Tengku Ezan Ley secured P1 in their Proton Suprima S, with Syafiq Ali/Tengku Djan Ley starting in second on the grid in the Preve.

Trailing close behind them is the duo from Team Sakura-Tedco Racing of Fitra Eri/Mark Darwin in third, while Honda Malaysia Racing Team’s Eddie Liew/Aaron Lim in the Jazz and Farriz Fauzy/Alif Hamdan in the City will start from fourth and fifth. Far from being a stranger to Sepang, Lai Wee Sing/Soh Kee Koon/Gilbert Ang from Type R Racing Team will also be giving a great chase in their Toyota Altis.

After the National Anthem, the race was flagged off at 1pm under a slight drizzle that did not last for long. The circuit immediately dried up and Sepang was brought to life with the loud roars from the 39 race cars.

While most of the teams opted for the battle-proven Proton Satria Neo to undertake this gruelling task, the Suzuki Swift was also one of the favourites as there were quite a number of teams running this subcompact car.

But the intense heat from the sun and the pressure from the competitors seemed too much for some as a number of cars were forced to retire due to mechanical difficulties. One of them was DON Racing Team’s Fariqe Hairuman/Abdul Razak Mohideen/Sutan Mustafa Salihin whom had their dreams dashed away as their #28 Satria Neo suffered mechanical failure after 56 laps of racing.

Overall champion for 2010 of Kenny Lee/YS Lim/Nick Mah of Kegani Racing Team also suffered the same fate when the gearbox in their Suzuki Swift gave up after 45 laps.

Type R Racing Team’s S1K journey almost ended up in the same manner after the left front wheel of their Toyota Altis came off on the 131^st lap, but the team managed to patch the car up and the trio of Lai Wee Sing/Soh Kee Koon/Gilbert Ang finished in 14^th place with 158 laps.

While the previous races have been kind to them, newly-crowned MSS champions Fitra Eri/Mark Darwin of Team Sakura-Tedco Racing only managed to complete 129 laps and finish 22^nd in the time sheet after some overheating problems forced them to perform a number of unscheduled pit stops.

But it seems that Proton R3 has this one in the bag as both their cars led the race from the start and all the way until the chequered flag flutters. While both the #11 Suprima S and the #12 Preve had swapped positions a number of times in the race, they kept themselves in close formation and brought back the win for the team.

The #12 Preve of Syafiq Ali/Tengku Djan Ley crossed the line first after completing 181 laps in 8h17m2.164s, followed by teammates James Veerapen/Tengku Ezan Ley in the #11 Suprima S 0.421 seconds behind.

HMRT secured the following two places with Eddie Lew and Aaron Lim in the #27 Honda Jazz taking third, while Muhammad Farriz Fauzy/Alif Hamdan finished in fourth in the #26 Honda City.

Separating the third HMRT entry was Ong Chee Yong/Ramsey Rizal Radzmi/Mohd Afdzal Mohd Nazri in the #36 Satria Neo with a fifth place, where Tan Zhong Zheng/Mohd Henzee Hamzah in the #250 Jazz took home a sixth.