Racing Legend Hans Stuck Leads Entried For MME Race In Malaysia

Racing legend Hans-Joachim Stuck leads the entries of an impressive line-up for the 2007 Petronas Primax 3 Merdeka Millennium Endurance 2007 (MME), which at the official last day for submission of entries yesterday stood at 84 entries.
   
All new entries submitted from today and until the final day of registration next Thursday (23 August) would be considered late entries and they would be imposed an additional charge of RM1,000 by the organisers. 

Twice winner of the 24Hours Le Mans Race, a three-times winner of an equally prestigious Nurburgring 24Hours and a former F1 driver, Hans Stuck would be partnering his son, Johannes, who along with Claudia Hurtgen and Richard Goransson provided them a class win in the Nurburgring race in June after finishing 5th overall.  

“It is indeed a privilege to have the legendary driver coming back in Malaysia; racing here at the Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race. It is indeed a privilege for the fans to get to see this great driver in action,” says SIC General Manager Datuk Azmi Murad.

For the MME race, the 58-year old Hans Stuck and Johannes, 21, would be partnering Malaysian Fariqe Hairuman, who is currently racing in Japan in the Super Taikyu Endurance Series as well as Asian Touring Car Series.    

While this would be his first time in Sepang, Hans Stuck, who is globally hailed as The Rain Master, would not be unfamiliar with the Malaysian weather; having race at the Shah Alam Batu Tiga Circuit in 1985 at the World Endurance Series in 1985 with the likes of Jacky Ickxx, Derek Bell, Jochen Mass and Jan Lammers.

While Hans Stuck leading their charge and a powerful BMW Z4 Coupe as their race car, the Petronas Syntium is oozing with confidence and Fariqe had openly declared that the team had a perfect package for the race and that they would be the team to beat at the eighth edition of the MME.

The 12-hour race would be flagged off at 11am on Saturday, August 25 and qualifying would be held on the preceding day on August 24. Only the top 77 cars would make the racing grid in accordance to their respective classes. 

While acknowledging the capability of the Petronas Syntium Team, Azmi, however, was quick to add that the other entries for the race was equally impressive especially the Hong Leong-Kencana Racing Team, which would be fielding a world class driver in Lars Erik Nielsen.

To partner racing instructor Sven Herberger and Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir, Nielsen would be bringing his own fully tested Porsche 911 GT3 RSR machine and coming to Sepang fresh from his impressive third placing in class at the recent LeMans 24Hours race in July.

Azmi added that defending champion Tengku Djan Ley Tengku Mahaleel, who would be bidding for his third successive title, would be equally strong in his winning Lotus Exige 300RR this year despite having new partners in Tommy Lee and Billy Ng.

“We all know all about Tommy Lee. He is a three-time winner and last year, he came third with Jaseri Racing Team. The team should be very good again this year,” Azmi , who is the event director for the 2007 Petronas Primax 3 Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race. 

The highly successful Honda Racing Team – overall winner in 2004 and Class A winner for the past three years - has yet to announce their line-up; but according to sources Eddie Lew would be partnering two Super GT drivers – Hiroki Katoh and Shinya Hosokawa.