Kia Picanto takes GP-4 class win in the K4GP in Sepang

Score one for the little ‘un. At the K4GP Sepang 24-Hours Endurance Race 2011 held over the weekend, a Kia Picanto driven by a team from Adi Haslam Motorsports finished in the top spot in the GP-4 category .

The Picanto, which was sponsored by Naza Kia Malaysia, completed 378 laps to take the win in the class, which is for cars with automatic transmissions. In addition to winning in its class, the Picanto also made history for being part of the first Malaysian team with disabled drivers to participate in the K4GP Sepang and as the first ever Korean car to enter the race.

“This victory represents the first time a Kia has won a motorsport event in Malaysia. We are also very pleased that this was the only participant from Malaysia with disabled racing drivers,” said Datuk Hafiz Syed Abu Bakar, COO of Naza Kia Malaysia.

For this year’s event, 45 teams with a total of 270 drivers participated. Adi Haslam Motorsports was led by wheelchair-bound Adi Haslam and his fellow disabled driver and former TV3 host, Ras Adiba Radzi. Other members of the team were Keifli Osman, Halim Muazzam Ayob, Mohammad Zaid Shamsuri and Mohd Diazreen. The car featured hand-operated throttle and brakes for the disabled drivers.

The K4GP race is held twice a year in Japan, while the 24-hour endurance race in Sepang is held bi-annually. The 2011 edition of the 24-hour endurance race is the third time the race has been held in Sepang. The race is open to cars with an engine capacity of up to 1,300 cc, and each team can have from two to eight drivers and is limited to 350 litres of fuel for its entire duration of the race.

The teams that complete the most number of laps after 24 hours are the winners of the race in their respective categories, of which there are five in total – Overall, Class GP-2, Class GP-3, Class GP-4 and Class GP-5. There were six teams in total in the GP-4 class and only four teams finished the race.

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