Brawn Beats Rain, Toyota On Podium Again
Sepang, 5 April 2009 – Team Brawn Mercedes proved that Australia was not a flash in the pan when Button sewed up another win at the Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix today. Thirty minutes into the race, droplets of rain started to fall onto the southern part of the 5.5 kilometre SIC track, and left the northern part dry. It was tyre poker all over the field, drivers making the wrong gamble losing out. The rain started coming down in buckets after a while, throwing all race strategies out of the window.
While certain parts of the track were dry, other parts were deluged with the typical Malaysian afternoon rainstorm. Many of the drivers opted for intermediates, but as the rain got heavier and heavier, it soon engulfed the entire track. The worst hit was around turn seven and eight, where standing water on the track played havoc on many of the cars in the field; race cars were sliding off into the run-off areas even though they had full wet tyres on.
At the end of 28 laps, the safety car came out, and a couple of laps later, the race was red-flagged for reasons of safety. After that, it was another half hour of deluge, and finally the race was declared over as it was getting dark.
The final winner was Button of the Brawn team who was at the front when the safety car was deployed. Second place went to Heidfeld, Team BMW. Third and fourth places were awarded to Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli of Team Panasonic Toyota.
The Team Panasonic Toyota paddock was graced by His Excellency, Mr. Masahiko Horie, Ambassador of Japan, and Her Excellency, Mrs. Masahiko Horie, wife of the Japanese Ambassador. Also present was Yang Berbahagia, Dato Akira Okabe, Senior Managing Director of Toyota motoring Corporation.
The top brass of UMW Toyota Motor all turned out in force to support Team Panasonic Toyota for the Petronas Malaysian GP. Leading the local distributor of Toyota vehicles was Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Asmat Kamaludin, Chairman of UMW Toyota Motor, Mr. Takashi Hibie, Deputy Chairman of UMW Toyota Motor, Yang Berbahagia Dato Abdul Halim Harun, Group Managing Director/CEO UMW Holdings Berhad, and Mr. Kuah Kock Heng, President, UMW Toyota Motor. The key members of the senior management of Toyota Motor Asia Pacific and UMW Toyota Motor were also in attendance.
Speaking at the cocktail/Dinner reception after the event, Dato’ Akira Okabe said, “It has been ten years since Toyota Motor Corporation announced its bold decision to participate in the Formula Grand Prix, seven years since our debut at the 2002 Australian Grand Prix where we scored our very first point. All this time, we have faced the challenges of participating in the highest level of motorsport. Though competition has been tough, our team has learnt from each and every race we have entered, and learnt from every mistake made.”
He added, “Failures have motivated us to find better solutions, and like the kaizen philosophy of continuous improvement we practice, our team has been constantly growing in capability, in competitiveness.”
As an aside, Dato’ Akira Okabe said, “I was in Australia last week for the Melbourne Grand Prix. There I saw that we have the potential for a win, which is why I made a change in my plans, and came here to support the Panasonic Toyota Team. We made it to the podium there, and we made it again here. It is unfortunate that the rain came today and the race ended prematurely. We will carry the battle to Shanghai, and look forward to even better results there.”
Dato’ Akira Okabe is no stranger to Malaysia, having spent six years here previously. “I love Malaysia, and I cannot stop feeling this excitement because now I am standing here to share the most wonderful moment with you.”
Well, it seems to us at AW that the Panasonic Toyota Team is ready for a win anytime now! We wish you the best for the next and subsequent Grand Prix!
