FIA GT3 car – Made in Kepong, by Bufori
There’s a Latin saying, ‘fortune favours the bold’. For Bufori’s sake, you would hope that is true. For the past nine and a half weeks, the modestly sized bespoke sports car manufacturer have been working hand-in-hand with Alex Yoong of Axle Motorsports to produce Malaysia’s very first FIA GT3 spec race car.
For the past nine and a half weeks (ed: Yes, we’re thinking of that movie too..), men from Bufori and Axle have been working round the clock through public holidays to ensure that the Bufori BMS R1 race car will be ready to see action this weekend in the Macau GP.
Coming together to form BMS Axle Racing, this collaboration was borne when Bufori approached Alex to build a GT3 version of their new upcoming sports car, the Bufori CS. To tackle this challenge, Alex assembled a collection of top local and overseas personnel, some with extensive F1 experience.
Alex is undoubtedly proud of his team’s work, saying, “This is a real milestone for Malaysia, as this is the first time something like this has been accomplished. In just over nine weeks, we have developed and built a GT car to compete with the likes of Ferrari, Porsche, and Lamborghini, companies that have been very successful in what they do.”
To ensure that the BMS R1 meets with the rigourous stresses of GT3 racing, the car’s structure is supported on a steel space frame chassis with a tub-design aluminium honey comb safety cell that is light, very rigid, and in Alex’s words, ‘not rocket science’. Helping to further reduce weight is an extensive usage of reinforced carbon fibre & kevlar in its bodywork.
Powering the BMS R1 is a 1,998cc twin-cam turbocharged inline-4 engine. The printed output figures issued to us reads: 382hp @ 3,700rpm and 960Nm @ 3,700rpm. According to Bufori engineers, the engine is none other than Mitsubishi’s 4B11T sourced from the Evo X, though the ECU has since been heavily reworked by MOTEC.
Like all ventures into motorsports, Bufori’s drive into GT3 is set to serve as a powerful brand-building exercise. When questioned why there was a necessity to press themselves to participate in Macau GP this year and not give themselves additional time to prep for the next GP instead, BMS-Axle honchos commented that this was a deliberate ploy to milk as much attention and coverage as possible, being the last GT3 race of the season.
Alex further commented, “With a Malaysian initiative now apart of Formula 1, it has put a spotlight on the country, and we are proud to showcase the potential we have here. We don’t have the budgets F1 teams do, so it is a great testament to show what can be done with the right approach and limited resources. Hopefully this will spur other companies to see the opportunities in this industry.”
