RaceRevo

After all the hype surrounding many of their rivals, it is Arrows Racing who emerged as the best teams with the best drivers and car at the Merdeka Millenium Endurance Race (MMER) 2010. They showcased a superb car performance, speed and reliability throughout the 12 hour endurance, marking their way into the record book as the winner with the most lap count with 315 laps registered.

Christopher Haase, Tunku Hammam Sulong and Peter Kox with the MMER winners trophy.

With 2002 champion Tunku Hammam Sulong, current FIA GT3 European champion Christopher Haase and 2003 Le Mans class winner Peter Kox in the cockpit, they blew off the challenge of many big names such as Audi Race Experience Team Joest, Petronas Syntium Team, Team Porsche Club Singapore (PCS) and Alex Yoong’s Axle / KK Performance Team.

Christopher Haase right after parking the LP560 at the parc ferme.

Arrows’s cause got a big helping hand, with their Lamborghini LP560 prepared by the renowned German racing team Reiter Engineering. This combination of car and drivers were perfect for the entire event, and they never put a foot wrong – either on the track or during the pit stops.

Peter Kox waiting to start his next stint.

They started the race from 2nd on the grid behind pole sitter Team PCS, and for the first 2 hours they had to play second fiddle as Team PCS in their Porsche 997 RSR were about 2 seconds faster every lap.

But the Porsche suffered mechanical problems and dropped back, handing the race lead to the Arrows. By now they lead the field with Kencana Racing’s Porsche 997 RSR and Audi R8 LMS of Team Joest close behind in 2nd and 3rd. That lead was never relinquished, and they crossed the finish line right at noon – covering 1746km at the 5.543km Sepang International Circuit.

Arrows Racing’s Lamborghini LP560 in pit stop actions.

Represented by multiple Le Mans champion Frank Biela and Marco Werner – plus 2008 champion Daryl O’Young, pre favourite Audi Race Experience Team Joest were very well place throughout the race, but slightly lack the speed to match the Arrows.

Audi Race Experience Team Joest’s pit crews has been flawless, as expected from the team with a lot of history in endurance racing.

Marco Werner, Frank Biela and Daryl O’Young receiving their awards on the podium.

After playing it safely in the opening hours, they began to climb up the leader board and were 2nd at the halfway point. 8 hours passed, and they trailed the Arrows by 5 laps.

The Audi R8 LMS after the race.

With only a third of the race remains, the Audi began to push very hard to catch the leader. But ultimately they ran out of time and finished 1 lap behind in 2nd position.

Nevertheless it is still a great results for a debutant, even for a works team. There’s also been talk around the paddock that Audi are planning to send Team Joest again next year to complete their unfinished business – winning the MMER.

Malaysian racing fans are now hoping that many top teams from Europe will follow the footsteps of Audi and join the MMER to challenge themselves to the tropical weather endurance here in Sepang.

The BMW Z4M of Petronas Synitum Team basks in the morning light.

Defending champion Petronas Syntium Team started the weekend with many problems, mainly due to tyres and setting up their BMW Z4M. They began the race in 12th and 13th spot, with car No.28 (Nobuteru Taniguchi/ Masataka Yanagida/Imran Zaharias Shaharom) and No.1 (Tatsuya Kataoka/Mohd Fariqe Hairuman/Melvin Moh) respectively.

Drifter, GT driver and endurance racer – Nobuteru Taniguchi of Petronas Syntium Team.

They started quite well, making up few places in the early phase and was 8th and 9th after 2 hours. By the fifth hour, they were already 5th and 6th respectively. The Z4Ms were not the fastest in their category, but more than made it up with consistent lap times between their drivers and smooth uninterrupted pit stops.

After 8 hours of racing, they were placed 3rd and 4th and trailed the Arrows by 8 laps. Approaching the final stretch, disaster struck as car No.1 suffered technical failure and was forced to retire. This left car No.28 to carry the flag for Petronas Syntium Team.

The Petronas pit crews were smooth, neat and tidy with their approach.

In the end they managed to hold the 3rd position until the chequered flag, grabbing a second podium finishes in a row for Petronas. Although they couldn’t defend their crown, they undoubtedly will be satisfied after the problems they’ve had leading up to race day.

With the increasing tough competition for the BMW Z4M Coupe, rumours has it that Petronas are intending to replace this year’s car with either BMW Z4M GT3 or Mercedes SLS GT3 for next year.

Dilango Racing managed a decent 4th position, after losing so much time rectifying their LP560 while in the pits. A regular in MMER, the team from Sri Lanka will rue their luck after posting some good lap times during the race.

Heartbreak for Team PCS as this is the second year in a row they’ve retired while leading the race. This time around they steamrolled their opponents in the first couple of hours, but this is an endurance race – speed alone can count for nothing if the car could not hold on for the 12 hour period.

As the race ran through the night for the first 6 hours, more teams dropped out – including Kencana Racing after just 119 laps and KK Performance’s Lamborghini LP560, who suffered an engine blow while challenging the leaders in 3rd position.

2007 champion Kencana Racing didn’t finish the race for the 2nd consecutive years now, maybe there’s a curse of MMER former champion.

Unlucky can be said about KK Performance, as they pushed the leading works teams right from the start and still contending for the win when they bow out after 198 laps.

With 3 big teams out the way, this gave hope for a podium finish to the smaller teams – with the likes of VIP Petfoods in a Porsche 997 RSR and DBRS9 of Craft Racing ready to pounce if mishaps befell onto the leaders.

They were not that far behind at the end of the race and and for sure will be gunning for more next year to improve on this year’s results.

Mosler MT900 of Amac Motorpsorts had to overcome many problems throughout the 12 hour, but tried their best to finish. They completed the race registering 196 laps, well short of 236 laps needed to be classified for a position – 75% of the winners lap count.

GT Class Results :

1 Tunku Hammam / Peter Kox / Christopher Haase Arrows Racing Lamborghini LP560 GT3 315 laps
2 Frank Biela / Daryl O’Young / Marco Werner Audi Race Experience Team Joest Audi R8 LMS 314 laps
3 Nobuteru Taniguchi / Masataka Yanagida / Imran Zaharias Shaharom Petronas Syntium Team BMW Z4M Coupe 308 laps
4 Dilantha Malagamuwa / Jeffrey Lee / Kota Sasaki Dilango Racing Lamborghini LP560 GT3 302 laps
5 Frank Yu / Alain Li / Michael Bentwood Craft Racing Aston Martin DBRS9 GT3 301 laps
6 Tony Quinn / Klark Quinn / Paul Weel VIP Petfoods Porsche 997 RSR 295 laps
7 Marc Cini / Mark Eddy / Maxwell Twigg Porsche Club Singapore Porsche 997 Cup S 294 laps
8 Keita Sawa / Siu Yuk Lung / Mak Hing Tak LKM Racing Team Porsche 997 Cup S 257 laps

NC Andrew MacPherson / Mike Reedy / David Wall Amac Motorsports Mosler MT900 GT3 196 laps
DNF Tatsuya Kataoka / Farique Hairuman / Melvin Moh Petronas Syntium Team BMW Z4M Coupe 275 laps
DNF Alex Yoong / Matthew Marsh / Marchy Lee KK Performance Team Lamborghini LP560 GT3 198 laps
DNF Mokhzani Mahathir / Sven Herberger / Dominik Fambacher Kencana Racing Team Porsche 997 RSR 129 laps
DNF W.S. Mok / Craig Baird / Richard Lietz Porsche Club Singapore Porsche 997 RSR 119 laps

Next part will be RaceRevo’s reports on Sports Production Class and Touring Production Class.

Photo / Editorial : Nazim Idris

Related posts: