Team Empire Motorsports – a Malaysian team with a truly global reach has done the nation proud by being the first Malaysian team to compete in the Toyo Tyres 24-hour Dubai Race. A formidable driver line-up includes former driver for A1 Team Singapore – Denis Lian, local time attack hero and the man who holds the record for fastest Evo around Sepang, James Mitchell and the only Malaysian driver – Ashraff Dewal – plenty of race experience with plenty more to come.
However, in a surprising last minute turn of events, Ashraff found out that he will not be allowed to race. The devastated driver said, “I find it sad and disappointing that I will not be driving in this race. Despite the team’s attempts to justify and appeal to the AAM for their support, I was not given the necessary approval to race. Empire Motorsports is the FIRST Malaysian team to race in a 24 hour international event and it is sad and ironic that a Malaysian team is making history without a Malaysian driver. Sadly, due to the unwillingness of the AAM to fully understand the positive impact this will create for Malaysian motorsports. Nevertheless, with or without support from the National Body, the team will move forward to make Malaysia and Malaysians proud.”
On hand to replace Ashraff is a name you probably have heard before. If Karun Chandhok rings a bell, that’s because he’s the Indian GP2 driver who is constantly being linked to Formula 1 Team Force India but landed a test with Team Red Bull. This year he was awarded “Best Driving Style” voted by the fans on the GP2 series website. His skills and abilities has already earned him a test drive for the Red Bull Racing Formula One Team at Barcelona and at 24 years of age, the racing world is definitely going to see much more of him in years to come.
Picture of Empire Motorsports 2-Eleven testing in Sepang.
Empire Motorsports’ driver Denis Lian who has known Karun since 2001 while racing in the Formula Asia, had asked Karun if he was keen to race with the team. “I’ve never done a 24 hour race before and since there was no clash with any of my other plans for 2009, I agreed to join the team. I think it’s good for a driver to use the off-season to try new things and the Lotus name carries so much history with it which makes the drive more interesting and attractive!” said Karun.
“We’re very lucky to have a GP2 race winner and current Formula 1 test driver on board. It’s a testament of the team’s professionalism that a driver of Karun’s caliber will choose to drive for us.” said driver, Denis Lian.
At Sepang pits during HPC
Racing a Lotus 2-eleven, a lean 15 person team also had the expertise of Lotus Engineers who had flown in all the way from Lotus Sport UK to assist them with technical support. Lotus Sport UK will bring the expertise of a chassis and calibration engineers together with a senior race engineer. “The involvement and support from Lotus Sport UK has brought the team to a new level of competitiveness as their technical and engineering expertise has strengthened the team’s performance.”, said Ashraff Dewal, Team principal.
Come qualifying day, Team Empire Motorsports held their own and surprised the competition by qualifying in sixth place in their A5 class. Despite suffering from loose bodywork at the front and being hindered by 2 slower cars on the track, they managed to clock in an impressive 2:12:678 lap time.
At Mean Machines, Juru 2008
The Malaysian team had opted to bring in the Lotus 2-eleven for repairs early even though they knew that Karun could have easily clocked in a 2:11 lap time. Discussions with its Lotus UK engineers made it clear that the race tomorrow was clearly more important than inching a place or two nearer in their class.
So after 24-hours and all the challenges, Malaysian team, Empire Motorsports achieved their target to complete their first outing in the Toyo Tires 24 hours Dubai Race; a first for Empire Motorsports, and a first for Malaysia. Coming out in eighth place in the A5 class and completing 456 laps within the 24 hours to finish 44th out of 75 finishers overall, the first Malaysian team to enter this race, are delighted with the results.
Mean Machines, 2008
With India’s Karun Chandhok, Singaporean Denis Lian and Australian James Mitchell on board a Lotus 2 Eleven, this 24 hour race is a first attempt not just for the Lotus 2 eleven, but for everyone in the team.
The team ran in a strong second place in their class and an impressive 9th position overall for a good 16 hours of the race before suffering a blow to their gearbox which lost them a potential podium finish.
During the 3 hour stop to replace the gearbox, something unique and quite heart-rendering happened. As the team scrambled to replace the gearbox, a few Italian mechanics from the Italian Lotus Exige Team (who were still running their car in the race) offered to assist them. These guys put all their effort into helping the team back onto the track and soon became an international team of lotus mechanics conversing with a mixture of Mandarin, English and Italian under the car. “This is ‘the’ valuable gain for Empire Motorsports and not the podium finish. There will be another Dubai 24-hour race next year, but it’s not every year do you meet such a display of generosity, selflessness and true ‘Lotus’ comraderie.” said Ashraff.
Zerotohundred.com would like to extend our heartiest congratulations to Empire Motorsports for their great racing, and great work.
