The MMER, as in MERDEKA Millennium Endurance Race debut 10 years ago as in 1999 to welcome the year 2000, the millennium… As in this year it is the 10th edition of the race itself.
Since its debut, the MMER itself attracted much enthusiasts all around Asia to participate in this 12 hours, 1000KM minimum in length race, with many famous official racing team such as Honda Malaysia Racing Team, Proton R3, BMW, Porsche Club, and also other garage such as J’s Racing, JC Racing, Tung Chun Motorsports.
This year in 2009, the 10th anniversary of the MMER… Is a special one, for some reasons, such as the format of racing being narrowed down, means qualifying got more difficult and thus reducing the number of vehicles that can be qualified from previous 70+ to this year 40+, to be exact 43 were qualified.
The other reason is that, we have the “Drift King” himself Keiichi Tsuchiya directly from Japan to participate in this great event for the first time. The Drift King will be driving the Honda S2000 courtesy from J’s Racing.
To cut the story now, below is the summary of the winner of each class.
CLASS 0
1 - PETRONAS SYNTIUM – BMW Z4 with a time of 2.13:560 and 306 completed laps
2 - PETRONAS SYNTIUM – BMW Z4 with a time of 2.13:573 and 306 completed laps
3 - Porsche Club Singapore – Porsche 911 GT3 with a time of 2.08:239 with 300 completed laps
It was the PETRONAS SYNTIUM Team that really stole the show. Starting the race from lower down the grid, both the car’s made their way up the field and by the third hour had a commanding lead in the Class 0 category and had the overall lead as well.
The biggest upset fell upon the defending champions Team Porsche Club Singapore. Their car first stalled at the start and failed to start the formation lap, this resulted in the team losing their pole position and had to start the race from the pit lane as the last car. The team later staged a brave fight up the pack and were in second place when disaster struck again in the form of a rear suspension failure which forced them to pit 45 minutes into the race. They later finished the race in third place with six laps down over the winning team. A rather remarkable comeback for the Singaporean team.
CLASS A1
1 - FUGAZI Racing Car – Radical SR8 with a time of 2.11:151 and 284 completed laps
2 - J’s Racing Labs – Honda S2000 with a time of 2.27:263 and 277 completed laps
3 - Aston Martin N24 – Aston Martin N24 with a time of 2.22:901 and 277 completed laps
In Class A1, the Radical SR8 of FUGAZI Racing lived up to the teams expectations and proved to be reliable over the course of the 12-hour race only showing minor problems in the final 30minutes when Alex Yong came in for a driver change and a refuel. The car’s starter had a problem and this forced the team to pit in for about eight minutes for a new starter. The team completed a total of 284 laps with a best time of 2:11.151 and were one lap ahead of the second placed J’s Racing Labs Honda S2000. With drift king Keiichi Tsuchiya behind the wheel in the closing laps, the team were confident but chasing the Radical proved to be a little too much to accomplish. The team ultimately finished the race with 277 laps and a best time of 2:27.263. A good 16 seconds down on the Radical’s best lap.
The final position in Class A1 went to a Aston Martin N24 which was just 10 seconds down from the J’s Racing S2000 with a equal number of laps completed. This goes to show how closely fought the battle was for second and third place in Class A1.
CLASS A2
1 - Type R Garage R Racing Team – Honda Integra DC5 Type R (DC5R) with a time of 2.27:947 and 279 completed laps
2 - Honda Malaysia Racing Team – Honda Civic Type R (FD2R) with a time of 2.26:637 and 278 completed laps
3 – Singapore Civic Club – Honda Civic FD2 with a time of 2.26:474 and 275 completed laps
But that battle was nowhere as close as the battle for the top two positions in Class A2. The Honda Malaysia Racing Team lead the whole race in first position only to be let down by the car in the closing half-hour with a braking problem. This was when the Type R Garage R Racing Team took the lead with their Honda Integra DC5 Type R and stuck to it till the end. In the end, the HMRT finished a lap down from the winning team and third placing went to a Singaporean team and their Civic FD2 which finished a lap down from the HMRT.
Disappointment
The winning teams clearly deserved their wins as they fought for and stuck to their positions all throughout the 12-hour race. There were plenty of disappointed faces as well especially for the Wing Hin Racing Team whose Toyota Altezza was highly regarded and expected to at least finish the race. But those expectations were dashed when the car had a minor fire problem in the 150th lap. Their best lap time stood at a respectable 2:35.404.
The other disappointment came for another team who came to the Sepang International Circuit with high hopes of redeeming themselves after last year’s last minute disappointment with a broken wheel bearing. Team Empire Motorsports and their Lotus 2-11 ran a very strong race throughout, posting a best time of 2:20.272, a good four seconds faster than the other Lotus 2-11 of Cartrade-ABT Motorsports. However, disaster struck the team in the 104th lap when the car caught on fire.
Thoughts
PDRM make a really good choice, to display their “precious” asset at the event itself for all the visitors to touch, look, and sit… Which is their respective “Helang Lebuhraya” Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Special Tuned Edition with 5 speed Manual Transmission, and also their new Honda bikes.
Proton R3 seems to have no proper car to compete in due to the failure of the Neo S2000, but they definitely will be back next time. Perodua as usual, absent… And ummm, where is Toyota other than the failure of Altezza?
Those Beng REMPITS? Turbo Wira? Supercharged Saga and Myvi? High-Cammed Gen 2?
Honda Malaysia Racing Team definitely did it good along with the other giants such as J’s Racing, although the braking problem in the very end make HMRT failed to defend their title, but still it is all Honda winner in the Class A2, to my surprise Honda Civic FD2 did get a 3rd placing. But yet, 3 years consecutive winning streak ended.
More information can be found on MME website once it is updated, or at (www.zerotohundred.com)
