I'm happy to note that Honda Malaysia Racing Team (HMRT) won!
1st & 3rd overall and in class A. Car #27 with Hiroki Katoh, Eddie Lew & Farriz Fauzy was 1st, with Car #26 - Takahashi Kunimitsu, Tommy Lee & Mitsusada experiencing a broken front left hand side wheel stud about 5 hours into the race. Luckily a spare front upright was on hand, and the car was hurriedly repaired, taking about 30 minutes, with the best efforts of all team members.
Dropping to 15th place, or worse, Car #26 battled onwards, reaching 5th spot into the 8th hour of the race. Finally in the last hour, they really pushed on hard and topped out in 3rd, even reaching 2nd ... a 1-2 finish was really hoped for, but then everyone else pushed all out too, putting car #26 into 4th position.
With less than 10 minutes to go, they managed to inch their way into 3rd, giving HMRT a 1st & 3rd overall, and Class A finish.
It was a day-long battle, with above average effort by volunteer team members, recruited from Melaka's Welding/Manufacturing/HR depts., Sales, Service, Parts & Marketing many of whom had spent more than 2 months preparing the car. Many were very emotional after the race, as they had achieved something beyond their wildest dreams.
Initially the plan was just to compete, and finish. Detractors had laughed about putting in a Melaka-built, 4-door 2.0 litre Civic in a race where the competition included a Lamborghini Murcielago, Porsche GT3s, Mitsubishi Evolutions, Lotus Exige/Elise/340R, Subaru Imprezas WRX STi, and even several Honda Integras.
In the end, teamwork, preparation and the will to win helped HMRT to achieve what everyone doubted.
A bit of luck played a part in the whole thing too! :)