KUALA LUMPUR: A Honda Civic EF more than three decades old rolled back the years to stun the field and emerge an unlikely champion at the Malaysia Speed Festival (MSF) Merdeka Race on Sunday night (Sept 1).
The Civic, which was piloted by Gan Kim Koa, Lee Wai Cong and Hayden Haikal, completed the 99 lap race in four hours, 54 minutes and 31.789 seconds to claim the overall win at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit.
It was a well deserved win as the trio's car had spun early in the race. The incident dropped them to last place but they worked their way back up the field to claim what is now a famous victory.
"We were literally running on fumes over the last two laps and I was just trying my best to keep the car from stalling," said Hayden, who drove the final stint for his team yesterday.
Millennium Racing 1's Faizal Naim, William Yong, Tan Wooi Loon and Al Amin Mohd Nazir came in second overall (+18.108s) in their Honda Integra while Fawster SMRT duo Fahrizal Hasan-Syed Mohd Rizal (GT86) were third (+32.601s).
MSF team principal Adian Yein Khalid said the trio's win highlighted the romance of the Merdeka Race which was sponsored by Petronas Primax this year.
"It was an exciting race and the safety car had to come out four times," said Adian today.
"Weirdly, a car which is more than 30 years old emerged the overall champion, beating newer, more powerful cars. This is definitely unexpected and is part of the romance of the event.
"The old Civic EF proved that it is very reliable and very capable in the hands of some fast drivers and a good strategy.
"For half the race, the leader was actually a Perodua Myvi which was also well driven but had to retire towards the end of the race."
Trackerz Racing duo Soh Zhi Xian and Tan Wai Hong had led the race in their first generation Myvi but were forced to retire after 72 laps
The iconic Merdeka Race made its debut in the late 1990s and has changed formats a number of times.
The race was lengthened from 88 laps last year to 99 laps this year and is likely to remain the same for next season.
"We have yet to make a decision for next year but it is likely we will retain the 99 lap format for next season," said Adian.
"The teams are happy with this (99 lap) format, it appears to be the sweet spot.
"The teams say extending it to become a 12 hour event would make the race more fun but it would burst their budgets.
"And if the race was extended to 12 hours, I don't think we would be able to get the same unpredictable results we get now."
Results by class:
Rennplatz Standard Production: 1. Siah Woei Ping-Chong Chin Young, 98 laps 2. Chio Wen Cheng-Kingston Tan-Tse Ka Hing, 97 laps 3. Freddie Ang-Jwan Hii-Adam Khalid, 96 laps
Rennplatz Standard Production Max: 1. Tan Wooi Loon-Roni Risman (Piston Project), 96 laps 2. Ahmad Firdaus Azman- Najib Ismail-Lee Kun San (Fawster 22 ProShop) +14.626s 3. David Kang-Gerald Goh (Sokudo Shenzo Racing X Agi) 95 laps
Vision HKS Super Touring: 1. Faizal Naim-William Yong-Tan Wooi Loon-Al Amin Nazir (Millenium Racing 1), 99 laps 2. Jonathan Lee-Justin Toh (TEDCO Racing), +1:19.160s 3. Mohd Irwan Abdoll Razak-Aiyub Alamghir Noor Azlee (Sokudo Shenzo Racing), 96 laps
Vision HKS GT86 x BRZ Racing Cup: 1 Fahrizal Hasan-Syed Mohd Rizal (Fawster SMRT), 99 laps 2. Khairul Nizam Yaacob-Sean Khoo (EXN-JR Speed Sucimuci), 97 laps 3. Kenneth Teh-Danny Chang, 94 laps
Super 1800: 1. Gan Kim Koa-Lee Wai Cong-Hayden Haikal, 99 laps 2. Yau Weng Wai-Low Zhe Wei, 94 laps 3. CY Khoo-Gilbert Ang, 89 laps
Super production: 1. Jonathan Xie-Leong Jia Le, 98 laps 2. Muhammad Nurazmi Abas-Shamir Aizan-Raja Ahmad Bellanie (55twelve X A RC Racing X UZMA Racing), 96 laps 3. Ng Tiam Lai-Eugene Lin-Mark Darwin, 94 laps