Kia Picanto wins GP-4 class in K4GP Sepang 24 Hour Endurance Race 2011
Disabilities and chronic illnesses have the ability to affect people in opposite extremes – they make or break a person. While many people simply collapse in the face of such situations, others find the extra resources in them to push themselves to inspirational heights and achieve greater success.
Two such people are Adi Haslam and former TV3 host Ras Adiba Radzi, who are both wheelchair-bound. Last weekend, the duo made history by being the first Malaysian disabled drivers to participate in the K4GP Sepang 24 Hours Endurance Race 2011 last weekend.
They further made history by winning their class, GP-4, for automatic transmissions, in a Kia Picanto, making it a first ever motorsports win for a Kia in Malaysia. The Picanto piloted by Adi and Ras Adiba, sponsored by Naza-Kia Sdn Bhd, raced under the Adi Haslam Motorsports banner with six drivers and featured hand-operated throttle and brakes for disabled drivers.
“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.
The K4GP race, held twice a year in Japan and once every two years in Sepang, is open to cars with an engine capacity of up to 1,300cc. Each team is allowed two to eight drivers and given only 350 litres of fuel to work with for the entire race.
The teams that complete the most number of laps after 24 hours are the winners of the race in their respective categories. There are five categories in total – Overall, Class GP-2, Class GP-3, Class GP-4 and Class GP-5. The winning Picanto completed 378 laps to take the GP-4 class win ahead of six other teams.
Pictures: Official Naza Kia release.
