Malaysia’s top driver Tengku Djan Ley Tengku Mahaleel ended a long personal five-year wait to claim the Merdeka Millennium Endurance (MME) crown; which he described as a bigger victory for the modified Lotus Exige 300RR than his personal glory.

While he was happy to win the crown for the very first time, Tengku Djan, who also tests Lotus cars, said he was even more happier with the performance of the Exige 300RR, which was only making its only second competitive appearance after a disastrous debut at the Malaysian Round of the Super GT Series in Sepang in June.

“There’s plenty of ways to see our performance at the Super GT race. I would not say that it was a disappointment. Instead, it had provided us with plenty of information and knowledge in making the car better as we had seen it today,” said Tengku Djan, who is the Head of Proton Motorsports.

Partnering former Japan GT driver and owner of Amprex Motorsports Genji Hashimoto and Tony Riccirdello of Australia’s V8 Championship, the trio from Proton R3 Amprex Racing Team completed 279 laps of Sepang’s 5.543-km circuit to beat the defending champion from Honda Malaysia Racing.

“I would definitely say this will not be our last win in the MME and instead to be a start of many,” said Tengku Djan at the MME winners press conference, which was held immediately after the team were presented the challenge trophy by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak last night. Partnering Norman Simon of Germany to compete in the 300bhp class at the Malaysian Round of the Super GT races, the Proton R3, which is prepared by Proton Motorsports R3 Team, had to retire early due to mechanical problems.

At the 12-hour endurance race yesterday, it was a different Exige 300RR machine as it took an early charge of proceedings with Riccirdello starting from pole position after all three drivers clocked the fastest time in qualifying. “We know that we had the fastest car. So, the main concern is to ensure that it could maintain throughout the 12 hours. Obviously, we did though it was close in the end,” said Riccirdello, who was making a dream debut in the MME, which is hailed as Asia’s Biggest Race.

It was also a personal glory for Hashimoto, who had failed miserably in his previous three attempts at the MME in three different GT cars – a Mazda RX7 in 2002; a BMW M3 in 2003 and in a powerful Lamborghini Murceilago last year. “Now, they cannot call the me the six-hour man anymore,” said Hashimoto in reference to his previous races where he and his Amprex Motorsports Racing Team lasted just six hours of the competition despite ruling in qualifying and the top speed charts.

“I have always loved this event. So, despite all that poor results, I always wanted to come back and to race. It is good that I finally win it today and hopefully, I will continue winning the MME in the coming years,” said Hashimoto.

For 2004 champion of Eddie Lew, Farriz Fauzy and Super GT driver Hiroki Katoh, which competed in unmodified two-liter Honda Civic I-VTEC, it remained a successful participation especially in the overall promotions and development of motorsports in Malaysia. Completing the race just a lap short of the newly crowned champions, they remained champions in Class A. But, more importantly, Honda Malaysia had added further impetus to motorsports development in Malaysia with the direct participation of more locals in the running of the team. “We have no complaints losing the overall title. We were competing with a GT car and obviously, the Lotus has more speed than us. I believe they are going to be even stronger next year. So, we may just need to bring a similar powered Honda machine if we want the overall title back,” said Eddie.

Australians seasoned drivers of Mark Eddy, Grant Johnson and Francois Jouy of Gates Racing Team took the Class B title but the biggest story in the battle of under 1900cc machines is the performance of the all-women’s team from X1-Racing Team. The partnership of Japan’s Kazumi Mikami, Phillipa Yoong and celebrity Deanna Yusoff did realised their target of climbing the podium. But, they managed to take their Satria GTI to the end of the 12-hour race with 244 laps and among the top six winners for the class.

The battle of machines under 1600cc for Class C was won by the partnership of Chong Fu Seong, Ee Shedden Joon Joon and Harry Chai, who took advantage of an early exit of the defending champion from Superture Motorsports Racing. The challenge of Wong Yew Choong, Soh Kee Boon and Tew Ban Yeap lasted only four hours and 20 minutes after their engine blew in the 82nd lap. “Obviously, we over-do in preparing the car and the engine. It just blew."