Petronas accomplishes 1-2 finish in MME 2012
The Petronas Syntium Team beat the heat and achieved the desired result of a 1-2 finish at the 13th Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race (MMER) 2012. Flagged off at noon this year, the reigning champion formula of the Merdeces-Benz SLS AMG GT3 #1 with Nobuteru Taniguchi, Masataka Yanagida and Dominic Ang had a smooth run and came home first with 319 laps at the stroke of midnight. Sister car #28 with Tatsuya Kataoka, Fariqe Hairuman and Melvin Moh experienced a bout of bad luck but recovered and followed up in second place with 317 laps. The first to win the MMER three times, PETRONAS Syntium Team’s last 1-2 finish was in 2009.
Qualifying in second place, the PETRONAS Syntium Merdeces-Benz SLS AMG GT3 #1 was running second until the race leader encountered troubles just before the ninth hour. Taking over the front of the field from that point, it was a clean run home to the chequered flag. Sister car #28 started in third place and was staying close behind car #1 until it got caught behind the safety car and lost precious time. More time was lost when the car had an extended pit stop due to the need to change brake pads. Fortunately the consistent pace built a good enough gap from the next car and the target of a
“It was good to hear the ‘Negaraku’ (Malaysia’s national anthem) being played at the home country for our team and the MMER means a lot to us. Consistency is key in endurance racing and I couldn’t have asked for more, with a hardworking team and disciplined drivers, all of whom contributed in their own ways to make this dream happen. Our partnership with Petronas goes back a long way to 1990 and together, we have gone through many tears of joy, as well as a fair share of disappointment over 22 years. With their support, Petronas Syntium Team has pushed boundaries and steadily chalked up the titles and wins,” said Dato’ David Wong, team principal of Petronas Syntium Team.
He added, “At the same time, we have created a proven platform for young Malaysian drivers to develop upon. They have shown tremendous improvement year on year, being put on a steep learning curve as they receive guidance from the professional Japanese drivers who have a lot of experience.”
Structured to provide young drivers with efficient accelerated driver development, the PETRONAS Syntium Team puts them alongside the professional Japanese champion drivers for maximum opportunity to learn and make effective progress. Ang made his debut in GT racing with the team last year and clinched not one, but two major titles – Super Taikyu overall champion and MMER winner – with Taniguchi and Yanagida.
“I’m very happy to have defended the MMER title and this is an early birthday present to myself. The race was good and my pace was quicker compared to last year. Temperatures were very hot this year and we spent a good part of the race chasing down the leader and pushing competitive timings. We couldn’t really back down and had to keep pushing yet keeping it safe to make sure we bring the car home,” said Ang.
“Teaming up with (Nobuteru) Taniguchi and (Masataka) Yanagida has helped me grow a lot as a driver and also as a person. Both of them, and also the rest of the crew, have been imperative in my driver development. I am very grateful to Dato’ David Wong of DWA Motorsports and PETRONAS for this opportunity and I would also like to thank the team and our supporters.”
Meanwhile, in the Sports Production category, the Aston Martin GT4 of Nexus Racing finished first for the second successive year. Piloted by Fahrizal Hassan, Adrian D’Silva, and Daniel Bilksi, Nexus’ Aston completed 283 laps of the endurance race with little drama. Zen Low, Patrick Ng, and Marcus Chye finished second in a Lotus Evora (268 laps), followed by Mohamed Nazir, Mohamed Ridzuan, and Khairul Anwar in a Nissan Fairlady (264 laps).
Pictures: Official Petronas & Nexus release.
