In an unexpected turn of events, overwhelming favourite Type R Racing Team for the Sepang 1000-kilometer Endurance Race (S1K) in Sepang will be defending its overall title in a 1600cc Honda Civic instead of their winning 1800cc Integra DC2 B18C; leaving them with a mountainous task to accomplish.

Not only that the second edition of the S1K attracted a bigger participation of 56 cars and stronger field as compared to the inaugural race last year, which had only 52 entries.   

The partnership of Boy Wong Yew Choong, Soh Kee Koon and Tek Kean Kang – winners Class 1 for cars between 1601cc and 1900cc last year – has now entered Class 2, which had 34 cars along with last year’s class winner of Farriz Fauzy, Lai Wee Sing and Tseu Chan Kee.

Speaking on behalf of the team, Tek said that they had to change their race car because the Honda Integra had ‘damage beyond repair’; but stressed that the Civic machine was strong enough for to challenge the top runners at tomorrow’s race.

The teams and drivers – which included 22 other entries from Class 1 – went through qualifying today. But, with 56 cars, all would start the race tomorrow, which would be flagged off at noon by Datuk Azman Yahya, chairman of Motorsports Association of Malaysia. The drivers would need to cover 182 laps, meaning that the race should end at about 9pm.

Though Tek declined to provide details on the damage of their Integra, it had been a talk at the paddock that the car caught fire on Wesak Day on May 28 when one of their mechanics was working on the car at the workshop.  It caught fire; but though the Integra was damaged severely, the EK, which was sitting atop of the Integra, was not affected.

Unlike the Integra, which was specifically set up for the 1000-kilometer race, the Civic was set up for the Malaysian Super Series Supersixteen Championship, which Boy was supposed to use to defend his 1600cc title at the opening round of the MSS on May 29 and 30.

“We skipped the MSS and we worked round the clock to prepare the Civic for this race. We are happy to be here and we will go all out for the best possible result. Our target? Well, that remains the same – to win and defend the title,” said Tek, who agreed that the team faced a mountainous task especially in view of the better-prepared rivals.

And, leading the challenge would be the MOFAZ Racing trio of Farriz, Lai and Tseu, who openly declared that their mission was not only to defend their Class 2 title; but also to wrest the overall crown from Type R Racing Team.

“While we are sad to hear about their (Type R) misfortune, I don’t think that our battle is just with them. It doesn’t matter whatever team that is competing with us. We are not concentrating on others. We are here to race, so we focus on our car and our team.

“Last year we won Class 2, so this year we’re aiming for the title of Overall Champion. Preparations this year is quite different, and our strategy this year is definitely different than the one we had last year.  We were just behind about 49 seconds behind the Overall Champion; completing the same number of 182 laps,” said Farriz, who won the overall Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race crown in a Class A Honda machine.

Other top contenders for Class 2 – which features most of the top drivers as compared to Class 1 - include teams from JC Racing, AMN Motorsports, Garage R Racing, Ultra Racing and ST Wangan Racing Team from Singapore.

For more details, contact the National Press Officer Norlina Ayob at 019-3174555.