MOTOR RACING SHOWCASE AT ITS TRUE BEST

Hailed as Asia’s Biggest Race and organised as part of Malaysia’s National Day celebrations, the prestigious Sepang 12-hour Merdeka Millennium Endurance (MME) race returns to Sepang Circuit this August for another round motor racing showcase.
With Petronas as the title sponsor and fittingly named as Petronas Primax 3 Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race, the 7th edition of the MME is expected to be as exciting as the previous races, if not even more thrilling, with the best of Malaysian drivers pitting their skills against some of the best in the region.

With 2007 being the 50th anniversary of Independence, the event would not just marked an early national celebrations; but more significantly would reflect the nation’s progress in the automotive and motorsports industries with Malaysian-made racing machines among those lining on the grid on a track that is now hosting world class events including the glamourous Formula One race, the world’s No 1 motorcycling event – the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix and Japan’s biggest motor racing series – the Super GT International Series.

To start at 11am on Saturday, 25 August, qualifying for the Petronas Primax 3 Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race 2007 will be held on the preceding day on Friday, August 24 where 77 fastest cars would be selected according to their respective classes: Class C (cars below 1600cc); Class B (cars between 1601cc to 1900cc); Class A (production cars above 1900cc) and Class O for the fully modified cars.
Pitting three drivers to a team to complete 12 hours of non-stop racing around the challenging 5.543-km F1 track, the MME is a true test of man and machine; of the drivers’ endurance and sustaining power and the speed and reliability of the machines. It is not just about the drivers; but the entire team crew and both the drivers and crew members work hand in hand in their pursuit of glory.

It’s also not about the fastest driver and the most powerful car as Japan’s Genji Hashimoto and his superfast 6.2 liter V12 engine Lamborghini Murceilago with 600bhp found out; failing to finish the race in 2004 and failing to qualify for the actual race in 2006.

Over the years, the event had witnessed the participation drivers with experience competing in the world class racing series such as the A1GP, Super GT International Series, Formula Nippon, Formula Renault, Formula Asia, Britain F3, the Asian Touring Car Championship as well as famous Australian V8 Series.
Malaysia’s former F1 driver Alex Yoong and Fairuz Fauzy, currently the test driver for Spyker F1 Racing Team and competing the Formula Renault World Series, had also competed in the MME; but have yet to pen their names as the overall winners.

Eagerly waited by the international motorsports fraternity, it all began at the dawn of the new millennium; with 52 cars vying for top honours in the inaugural race in 2000. Brainchild of the late Tan Sri Basir Ismail, the chairman of Sepang International Circuit (SIC), the event was also aimed promoting motor racing in the region and to make Sepang as the motorsports hub for Asia Pacific.

A year later, the maximum limit of 77 entries on the starting grid had already been exceeded; reflecting the popularity of the event and the immediate impact that it had made with participation of top drivers from as far as Europe and Australia.
Now, it’s a world class event with top class participation and without doubt, Asia’s Biggest Race.