22 Fully Local Team Members and 3 Returning Drivers Completes First Testing for the Annual 12-hour Race
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| Group photo of Honda Malaysia Racing Team |
Sepang, 10 June 2010 - Honda Malaysia today officially announced its participation in the 11th edition of the Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race, which will be held at Sepang International Circuit on Sunday, August 8.
Having just completed its first round of testing at the circuit, the Honda Malaysia Racing Team (HMRT) are in high spirits and looks forward in anticipation to the grueling 12-hour race which will start at midnight. Armed with Honda's trademark Challenging Spirit and continuing the motto "Rise to The Challenge", the 22 HMRT members from Honda Malaysia, together with returning drivers Eddy Lew Kar Wai, Aaron Lim and Rueben Wong are challenging themselves to capture the Class A Championship at the race this year. The team will be racing with the same Honda Civic Type R which competed last year.
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| HMRT's race car - The Honda Civic Type R |
The HMRT team managed to achieve a podium finish last year in 2nd position for Class A2 and is fuelled to overcome all obstacles this year despite the tighter rules with strict conformity to FIA regulations. The MME race is hailed as Asia's Biggest Race as despite being just 12-hours, the tropical heat and humidity makes it one of the most challenging and demanding endurance race for cars, drivers and the teams.
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| HMRT checking and conducting maintenance on the race car. |
This is the 8th year that HMRT is participating in the MME race. Ultimately, HMRT's objective is to instill Honda's racing DNA into its associates, create a platform which allows local talents to thrive and to build up the local team's expertise in motorsports. It is an avenue to learn from past mistakes and to continue to challenge themselves to compete at the highest level of motorsports, overcoming all obstacles.
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| One of the HMRT drivers, Eddie Lew doing his final check before bringing the car to the track |
Mr. Toru Takahashi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Honda Malaysia who is also the HMRT Team Principal said, "I am very proud to witness the improvement of the HMRT from a team guided by MUGEN to today's fully Malaysian team. Our local Honda associates demonstrate commendable passion and commitment in this local motorsports to build up their skills and knowledge, and to support each other towards a victorious MME race 2010."
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| Marking tires prior to testing |
The MME race is not just about speed and strategies but also the durability of the finely tuned race machines, stamina of the team and most importantly, the teamwork and perseverance of the teams.
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| Tireman checking the wheel nut torque |
"Over the past few years, HMRT gradually became more independent from the guidance and supervision of MUGEN from Japan. Today, the team is confident enough to manage on their own. This in itself is a significant achievement and a big motivation for the team. This is also the ultimate objective of HMRT - to train and build up the skills of local talents to thrive in the motorsports and automotive arena. This year, 11 members from last year's team returned to HMRT to lead in different divisions and to transfer their skills and knowledge to the other new HMRT members," Takahashi added.
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| Refilling the fuel into the race car |
One of the senior HMRT members, Muhd Faizul said, "One of the biggest factors in helping us achieve 2nd position last year was good communication amongst the team members and great teamwork. No one is above anyone else. We all work together towards the one single goal. I am the fuel man leader for HMRT this year. My most important responsibility is to motivate the new team members and familiarize them with the job. I will also share with them what we learn last year and how we can improve for this year. I sincerely hope that HMRT can win this year and learn from last year's mistakes, focus and improve the weaknesses to ensure zero mistakes during the race."
Racing is in Honda's DNA. With the knowledge and experience obtained by competing at all levels of motorsports, Honda hopes to transfer the commitment, knowledge, technology and expertise towards producing vehicles of excellent quality for its customers.
With this, the Honda Malaysia Racing Team (HMRT) continues to challenge itself in the Merdeka Millennium Endurance race for 2010!