With clear skies giving way for the sun to blast its punishing heat rays onto the tracks, the 13th edition of the Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race kicked off with the thunderous roars of 30 race machines from all over; ready to put it all out for the next 12 hours of the race.
The race saw Team Clearwater Racing taking the pole position in the starting grid, having secured the position during yesterday’s qualifying with a time of 2:04.108. Both of the PETRONAS SYNTIUM’s SLS secured second and third on the grid, with the No.1 car of Taniguchi, Yanagida and Dominic qualified at 2:04.759 and No.28’s Kataoka, Fariqe and Melvin at 2:04.873. Up to the third hour of the race, the three of them are still defending each other’s position.
Apart from the high-powered GT class, the MMER also saw participation of two other classes – the Touring Production category which comprises a mixture of cars like the Type R Racing Team’s FD2R and the Sports Production category which the Nexus Racing’s Aston GT4 is in.
The MMER is considered as a very special event for Malaysia and the region, especially in developing the sports and generating new fans into it, according to the chairman of Sepang International Circuit, Datuk Mokhzani Tun Mahathir.
“MMER has evolved into a major race which attracts top teams and drivers. If you look back over the years, the driver, team and racecar profile has changed to the point that we cannot think it as just a local, Malaysian race. Japan SuperGT teams, Le Man championship drivers, factory teams, professional race teams all race in the MMER”, he added.
We will bring you more updates throughout the day, so please do stay tuned with us! Also do visit our facebook page for some live updates of what is happening in the moment at the 2012 MMER.