[UPDATE: Full race result now included.]
By the fourth hour, the grandstand is barren save for a few bored-looking souls. The racing is not coming hard and fast either. Some of the teams have already thrown in their towels; others had to take unwanted extended breaks in the pits. And one such car was HMRT’s Car 17.
It is the second time the car had to be parked inside the garage. Which is a pity because Car 17 started in fourth and had been challenging for a top-three finish. The first stop was caused by a recalcitrant starter. Now, it is the fuel line that’s losing laps for the car. To fix the car, the team has caught a couple of Freeds to harvest its parts for the stricken Jazz. After all, it is for the greater good.
At the same time, Car 26 is putting in a strong pace, lap after lap. They started seventh on the grid and now running strong in sixth. Everything is going according to plan in spite of the relentless beating by the harsh sun. The strategy now is to conserve the engine and not stress it out too much. It is going to be later, when the ambient temperature has cooled, that Car 26 will push hard once again.
Part of the strategy also involved quick pit stops. The team have trained day and night, drilled the necessary sequence until it became as natural as breathing. The team can now change drivers, swap tyres and refuel less than 43 seconds; the average time for the teams is approximately 50 seconds.
Car 17 rejoins the race somewhere long the line. And immediately let loose its speed as it overtakes one car after the other, effectively gaining back precious laps. One can only wonder the possibility of a podium if reliability was not an issue.
In the end, the podium eludes the team although having both cars crossing the chequered flag is in itself a victory. Given the circumstances, Car 17 finishes last in 20th and 41 laps down from the leader. Car 26 secures fifth spot and finishes four laps down from the leader. In total, there were 30 cars that started the Sepang 1,000 km Endurance Race, only 20 cars return home.
Tengku Ezan of Car 26 recalls the race: “It was a challenging race as it was really hot during the day and we had some issues with the brakes that slowed us down. We did make a slight mistake towards the end that cost us a bit of time, had some body damage and we dropped from fourth to fifth.”
“After testing and qualifying, we knew the car had potential to win the race. We proved that the car had pace over a long run. It is disappointing when the car had a second stint, but I guess that is racing,” says Aaron Lim of Car 17. He continued, “We have one of the fastest lap time, if not the fastest. If the problem had not happened, I think we have a good chance to win the race for sure. Our strategy was good, but then again, until we do it, it is difficult to say.”
Akkbar Danial, Team Director of Honda Malaysia Racing Team, is proud of the achievement, “This is our S1K debut race and I am very happy with the results. We managed to finish the race with both cars, and Car 26 finished fifth. It was well above our expectations.”
What is next for the team? Will they be participating in next year’s Sepang 1,000 km Endurance Race? Ezan and Aaron are looking forward to next year’s race, especially that they both understand the car and how it performs. So, a podium-finish, maybe?
As requested, here’s the full race result:
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
The champion and runner up are Proton. Number 3 to 5 are Toyota, Suzuki and Honda respectively. Proton has proven many times It has speed, balance and racing better than Japanese made car.
but poor reliablity on road…
Who came to this page because of /kopitiam?
agree with you joe…
proton car on road mehhh…quality…
proton car for oversea have better quality
better range of spec….
true..performance+handling..hail to proton!
Should put a GTR35…if cant at least put a Polo R WRC or Civic Euro R lah…
If can beat those car,then baru call hebat !
Why don’t you post the result but made me go google and find it. :S
1. (Satria Neo) 181 laps – 8:25:06.699 seconds
2. (Proton Preve) 180 laps
3. (Toyota Altis) 179 laps
4. (Suzuki Swift) 177 laps
5. (Honda Jazz) 177 laps
6. (Satria Neo) 175 laps
7. (Suzuki Swift) 172 laps
8. (Suzuki Swift) 168 laps
9. (Suzuki Swift) 168 laps
10. (Proton Gen 2) 168 laps
* I’ve remove names to not to make it look more complicated. Full result here: http://www.malaysiangp.com.my/news/frontpage-proton-r3-scores-sensational-1-2-ta
thanks for the link.. Did u notice the altis driver in the photo?? the middle one is very big lio.. later basher will say.. no wonder the altis only manage the 3rd podium due to the fatty racer.. hehe…
Uncle Sam, Proton Satria Neo more reliable than Toyota and Honda! RV skyrocket!
Satria neo r3 – 1st
Preve – 2nd
Altis -3rd
Even though i am not involve in proton nor their motorsport, but i am proud at what they did in motorsport this recent years.
where those taip-R?
I believe there’s no Type R in this race.
I’am hardcore fans of Honda..but,respect must be given to Satria Neo.Handling undeniable,is perfect.
guess that’s what you get when you have a former F1 engineer in the team…
please stop wasting our precious petrol…
go tell that to F1 big boys 1st u environmental fag!
That says a lot about Honda (on the road) nowadays…
no Perodua?bikin malu i drive kancil
p2 afraid they will broke the myvi rear axle again when installing the performance parts for improving the lousy handling.. The chassis cant support the “RACING” pressure..
my kancil can support the “racing” pressure..660cc carburator engine and 14 inch wheels no sweat….actually sweating also when climbing steep road hehe
Yep, the chasis was so fragile that’s why it cannnot hold rear axle well. In short Myvi cannot bear the trmendous pressure of racing manouver.
Myvi would be safe for everyday racing ie go to market, around the town and easy driving around the coubtry but not performance drive.
Even if you attempt to strengthen the body via performance parts , and whack it kaw-kaw, for sure the parts will break.
So for the Myvi racer wannabe out there, drive man-man only ahhh
there are so many “racing” myvi on the road out there, with agressive appearance..truth is, perodua dont even dare to put it with the boys in the actual race..my poor kancil everyday kena tailgate by these “racing” myvi
Those are racing ‘wannabees’ only dude..not the real one..
those myvi just all show no go.. even tho they are using 17″ alloy, they are smoked by my standard waja during corner..
why perodua scared.. it worse than losing in a race
The driver of the track car somehow play an important factor too.
Like the S2000 satria neo ,proton can make a serious competition car, even cusco in Japan are tuning Neos for racing. could easily be the better cornering machine in its segment ,protons. Now if only they improve in the mileage and quality sector.
I like your comment dude..QC Department must improve and put more stringent test
P2 cannot enter le bro… suspension like sampan sure cannot finish the race
Da..m.n.. you’re rightman ! I dare only to drived at 90-100kph at the twisty Morib to Sepang road with my sister Myvi.
Spongy feeling and feel almost like to turn turtle while cornering at high speed with Myvi sampan handling. So scared even though the suspension has been changed to harder damper and suspension to gas type.
But with my Neo you can get out of the corner up to 110 way up to 120 easily.. :)
hopefully,honda&proton collaboration with benefit the consumer..obviously Proton need to improve on refinement and Honda can take advantage on Lotus ride&handling.
till now no story about this manner.. DRB sembang kencang!! hahahah
All Proton need is good QC control
luckily exora bold not participate..otherwise it will rank no 3…ashamed to other makes
hahaha. love to see exora in action, put all other japanese car in shame
why not..new category..mpv. exora, grand livina, alza, urmm..maybe anything else? i’d be fun i guess.
no one noticed the only mazda 3 racing there ? and it finished number 15 .
Sad…Mazda was the best world handling car and beg award in 2010… :(
y r they no review on Proton R3 team but only do report on honda?
I presume Proton did not pay them good amount of money to do a report about the event.
just hoping if u can publish neo and preve pics,,
hmmm… where’s all ah beng japanese wannabe?…. dont want to hantam proton?… said la proton main tipu.. pakai minyak jet itu pasal dia laju… xpon itu proton pakai enjin bmw 7 series…
Goodness me, the unreliable Protons winning an endurance race? That’s not right… Surely they have the reliable Toyota Vios parts under the skin. :)
that dugong only can swim.
proton has improved a lot in recent years. but lots more to be done in order to catch up with big boys out there.
bodoh sangat lar statement kau nih… macam tak sekolah…
Sarcasm much. People hardly understand this reaction.
that why i give “thumb up” his comment..
Thanks for understanding guys… I forgive those who cant read between the lines…
Yeah sure man..reliable only for everyday but not for performance and racing high pressure environment.. :)
ha….. its a nightmare to you ha ?
Poor dugong not even in the top 10 list..
booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiinggggggggggggggggg
^^^ butthurt… hehehehehe
sore..bu…tt..
Lopek lah whole article cerita pasal Honda itu ini prob, leading this lap that lap, at the end kalah jugak. Whole article alasan nk coverline. Team lain tak ade masalah pulak la? On your face, Honda yang dibangga-banggakan sangat tu, VTEC konon.
bukan mcm tu bro.. basher ni kalo highlight ttg proton menang nanti diaorg kata Proton lumba dgn tata nano dan p2 kancil.. sebab tu menang.. main tipula.. paultan kena bayar la..
Yeahh…Proton pay Paul Tan.org whaaa..
chill out…it’s just a race have fun..dont spread hatred.
come on laa Honda,you use Jazz for racing???you gotta kidding me laaa…where is civic,crz, etc?…Proton I ‘tabik spring’ sama you ok!..
Kalau kalah nnt lagi malu woo! Itu psl antar jazz je…
Proton already proved themself in APRC World Rally Championship..put many ‘big boys’ to shame even the Honda Team, Subaru, Mitsu, Peugeot, Citroen there admit that Neo S2000 are among the best.. clean sweeping all eight titles Awards ..check out these post about Neo APRC championship by Paul Tan dude ..
http://paultan.org/2012/03/30/proton-kicks-off-aprc-title-defence-in-new-zealand-malaysian-kenneth-koh-makes-international-rally-debut/
if forte and elantra participate in the race, sure they are headturner on the circuit..sexy.
if only they dare to put Forte n Elantra into the racing track to embarace them self~ then by all means go ahead….. those korean car only looks good on public road but not on the racing track!!!!
yup.. korean car are all show no go..
They might be sexy and beautiful but the performance are left behind dude…
OOHH i am very happy to see the Preve racing,it just shows how good Proton,s in the world of motorsport
Of coz Honda would not put their civic or cr-z, they will be more shameful if their team lost with their civic/crz. bravo to proton.
Yeahhh..da..m.n. you’re dude..already proved in APRC racing …here again check this link out dude
http://paultan.org/2012/03/30/proton-kicks-off-aprc-title-defence-in-new-zealand-malaysian-kenneth-koh-makes-international-rally-debut/
If you see the best lap, 1-SatriaNeo, 2-HondaJazz, 3-SatriaNeo. Speechless!
but very hard maintaining the pace..
Congrats proton…but what is this ‘fixed’ race all abt? All tis small events won by proton. Then race with altis, jazz, swift and no european or korean makes.
Wat to proof and is the world watching?
All above are average cars