The 12-hour Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race (MMER), which is held every year at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC), has undergone a transformation for the 2010 edition – offering three new classes of competition that bring it up to speed, so to speak, with the world’s top endurance races.

The 11th edition of the MMER starts at midnight on Saturday, 7 August, finishing 12 hours later at noon. Conforming with FIA (motorsport’s governing body) regulations, it now features the GT, Sports Production, and Touring Production Classes, which replace the previous Open Class, Class A1 and Class A2 categories.

“When MMER was first held in 2000, it was focused on encouraging local participation in motor racing. Hence, you had cars like Kembara, Kenari and Bufori participating,” says SIC CEO Razlan Razali. Through this change, the organisers hope to draw more top international teams to take part, as well as encourage locals to compete abroad.

Last year, after starting seventh on the grid, Team Petronas Syntium’s car number 28 won the 2009 race, completing 306 laps in twelve hours. Driving a BMW Z4, drivers Tatsuya Kataoka, Manabu Orido and Johan Adzmi snatched first place from their teammates 20 minutes before the end, following a dramatic turn of events when the lead car of Nobuteru Taniguchi, Masataka Yanagida and Fariqe Hairuman (car number 15) suffered a left rear tyre puncturae and had to come in for a quick pit stop, though still managing to get back on track and finish in second place. “It was a real honour to race with the two experienced Super GT drivers [Tatsuya and Manabu] as they taught me a lot through the race,” says Johan, the youngest on the podium that day.

With the new changes, Razlan has high expectations for MMER 2010. “What we’ve done this year is make our rules similar to those adopted by top endurance races – taking the MMER to a higher echelon and, eventually, making it the top endurance race in the region,” says Razlan. “The Malaysian teams and drivers have shown that they are world-class, such as Jazeman Jaafar in Formula BMW and Fariqe Hairuman at Japan’s Super Taikyu.

“We want more Malaysian drivers and crews to venture overseas and compete in other major endurance races. After 11 years, we believe it’s time to make the MMER a fully-fledged competition of true world-class level.”

Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race
5-8 August 2010
Sepang International Circuit, Sepang
+603-8778 2222
www.sepangcircuit.com.my
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