07 June 2010, BY Sepang International Circuits
Almost a Fairytale Ending for Type R Racing
Six days before the official scrutineering of the 2010 Sepang 1000-kilometer Endurance Race (S1K) on June 3, disaster struck upon the defending champion – the winning 1800cc Honda Integra DC for Type R Racing Team was completely destroyed when it caught fire.
The car was all prepared – fitted with a brand new engine and performance parts; and all ready to be rolled in for scrutineering. One of the team’s mechanics was merely working on finishing the final parts when it suddenly caught fire and destroyed to ‘irrepairable damage’ as explained by team manager Tek Kean Kang.
As the team members all rushed from their homes to workshop in Klang; and as they were all staring at the severely damaged Integra, they resigned to accept fate that the team would not be skipping the second edition of the S1K. Until, team owner and driver Soh Kee Koon spoke.
“He decided that we should still race … fortunately, our other cars the EK and the Dc5 were not damaged. The only problem was the EK had been set up for the MSS race next day for Boy (Wong). The boss decided we skipped MSS and concentrate on the S1K. So, the work began.
“We all worked like crazy for the next three days. Getting the parts; repainting the car as some parts of the body was damaged by the fire,” said Tek, who explained that the Honda Civic EK was parked exactly on top of the burned DC2.
As witnessed by all at the track on scrutineering day, Type R Racing brought in a freshly painted all white EK9 to the track; and changed their registration to Class B for cars below 1600cc. Within the paddock, their closest rivals were looking with admiration on the team’s persistence and harbouring fresh hopes of finishing on top of the defending champions this time round.
Pole sitter at the inaugural race; Type R Racing Team concluded the qualifying session in commendable style as they finished sixth fastest among the 56 started where 22 of them are in Class 1 with engine capacity above 1600cc.
Top of the grid was Team Pentagon J’s Racing – the team that finished second in class behind Type R Racing Team. Joining them on the front row was JC Racing – a traditional rival of Type R, which was featuring an awesome trio of Eddy Lew, Keifli Othman and Patrick Tam.
Flagged off by SIC Chairman Datuk Mokhzani Tun Dr Mahathir and starting behind a safety car for a rolling start under rare noon cloudy skies, Japan’s Juichi Umemoto of Pentagon J’s Racing Team for a large part of the early stage until their car encountered problems mid-way through the 181-lap battle.
Team JDMS Racing of Zane Loo, Perajun Krishnan and Damien Dielenberg also briefly led the race; but their challenge were foiled by mechanical problems as well; leaving the battle on top of the timing sheet was between two Class 2 entries – Team Ultra Racing of Kenny Lee, Hsiao Tung Wei and Australian Christopher John O’Shannessy in a Toyota Levin and the #21 Civic – Type R Racing Team.
Looking at the time sheets from the Media Centre, the two cars swapped leads occasionally, though it was clear that it was the Ultra Racing Team always holding the advantage. With some 30 laps to go, the team of Kenny, Chris and Hsiao held firm the top spot and went on to take the chequered flag after eight hours 32 minutes and 1.455 seconds to cover the required 181 laps.
“Are we happy with the results? Yes and no,” said Tek, stressing that mid-way through the race, the team believed that they could actually win the race. “We know that we had the fastest cars on the track. Most of the top names were already facing problems; but our car was holding very well.
“We could have won it. We lost because we actually had one extra pit stop … that gave the advantage to Ultra Racing Team. But again, these are strategies in a race. We made a mistake and we lost our chance to win overall … That would be one big story,” added Tek.
Commenting on his win, Kenny said that the win was a dream that finally came through and a reward for their persistent hardwork and belief.
“It was a long, hard road,” said Kenny, who began dreaming of victory in SIC’s endurance races in 2003 when his team was in a podium position until a mechanical problem threw them out in the end.
“We put in a lot of effort to get to this victory, so this is one of the sweetest moments of our life. When I started my first attempt in the Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race in 2003, I finished sixth … so from then on, I started spending and working hard, dreaming of a victory,” said Kenny.
Third place for Class 2 was won by Team ST Wangan Racing of Singapore, which featured Aloysius Lek, Teh Kian Boon and Desmond Soh in another Honda Civic EK9. They finished third overall with 178 laps in the 1000-kilometer battle; ahead of the Class 1 winner - the partnership of S. Velumani and Australian Kosi Kalaitzidis in a Satria GTi.
Goi Chun Kiat, Philip Pang Peng Ngiap and Mohd. Nizam Yazet was second in the class in a while the final step of the podium for Class 1 went to the partnership Leong Chun Kee, Leong Chun Kok and Admi Shahrul Ahmad Saffian in a Satria GTi.
Now with the S1K over, SIC now looks forward to their second and more prominent endurance race – the the 11th edition of the 12-hour Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race, which will be held from August 5 to 8. And, Type R Racing will be there again – this time to defend their Class A2 title.
S1K RESULTS
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