MME 2012 action at SIC this weekend
The annual Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race 2012 will take place this weekend, and for racing fans, there will be quite a few things to look forward to. A yearly fixture in the local motorsports calendar since 2000, the MME is a 12-hour endurance race in which teams compete with three drivers per car.
This year’s edition will see drivers start practicing on Thursday, 30 Aug 2012, before qualifying takes place on Merdeka Day (31 Aug) itself. The 12-hour race will take place on Saturday, 1 Sept, and on the following day will be support races such as the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia (PCCA) and Ferrari Challenge Asia Pacific, each showcasing two rounds of action. There will also be the Asia Classic Car Challenge, Scirocco Hot Laps, and Ferrari Challenge Hot Laps to look forward to.
The main MME race itself is divided into four categories this year – the GT class, the GT-X class for the non-homologated race cars, the Sports Production class and the Touring Production class. The 12-hour race will conclude at midnight with the podium ceremony to follow immediately.
Amongst teams to lookout for would be Nexus Racing, a Malaysian-owned and operated team featuring Datuk Adrian Henry D’Silva, Daniel Bilski and Fahrizal Hasan behind the wheel of an Aston Martin GT 4. The team boasts an established pedigree in the race, having won the class’ title in 2011 in 1st positionand a 7th place overall with a clear 1.5-hour lead over its closest competitor.
Datuk Adrian is a familiar face within the team, having previously represented it in the PCCA series. His racing CV is six-years long, and includes seasons in the Honda Integra Cup, Asian Touring Car Series and the GT4 Asia Series.
Playing an active role in this year’s race will be Michelin, whose range of tyres will be featured in a total of 43 teams, amongst them being Craft Eurasia Racing (Aston Martin Vantage GT3), LKM Racing (Porsche GT3R), BTB Racing Team (Lotus Evora GT4) and STWangan (Honda Civic Type R). Michelin’s motorsport specialist technical team will be present to assist its teams in fitment and setup of tyres for the race.
Pictures: Nexus Racing and Michelin.
