The Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race (formerly known as "Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race"), commonly known as MMER, is a 12 Hours endurance racing event held annually since 2000 at the Sepang International Circuit on late August as part of the Merdeka festivities in Malaysia.
The 2012 Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race will be part of the Japanese Super Taikyu Series.
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The 2006 race was run on August 27, 2006 from 12:07am to 12:07pm. In 2006 the race was sponsored by Petronas Primax 3 and it was won by the Proton R3 Racing Team with their Lotus Exige 300RR.
2007 race was run on August 25, 2007 from 11:00am to 11:00pm. Once again Petronas Primax 3 sponsored the race. The race was won by Hong Leong-Kencana Racing with a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.
2010 - Current
The race is divided into 3 classes
FIA GT2 FIA Article 257 FIA GT3 and CUP cars FIA article 257A JAF : Supertaiku Cars (STX – ST1)
FIA GT4 Cars (All cars complying with SRO Regulations) FIA Group B Cars as per FIA Article 256 Sports Cars with Diesel Engine above 1900cc
Group N Cars 1900cc and above as per FIA Article 254 Group A cars 1900cc and above as per FIA Article 255 Non FIA Homologated Touring Cars 1900cc and above (2,500 minimum annual production) as per FIA Article 277 JAF Supertaiku Cars (ST2 – ST4) Touring/Saloon Cars with Diesel Engine above 1900cc
2009
The race is divided into 3 classes
2000 - 2008
The race is divided into 4 classes:
In the late 90s, Malaysian auto manufacturer Proton used to organize a 300 km race at Shah Alam circuit for local racers racing with Protons, to celebrate Merdeka in Malaysia. When Sepang International Circuit was built the race was shifted to the F1 circuit, with the winners of the race entitled to a new Proton road car.
But after the 1999 race, a dispute happened between Proton and Sepang International Circuit, resulting in Proton's sponsorship withdrawal. Sepang therefore decided to host a replacement race by itself and started the Merdeka Millennium 12 Hours Endurance Race in 2000. The race also opened up for non-Proton entries.
The inaugural race was won by the Proton EON Racing Team (PERT) with Jimmy Low, Karamjit Singh and Tommy Lee driving, beating off the challenge from TVR Racing who ran Malaysian F1 driver Alex Yoong.
In 2001, TVR Racing won the race with Jeffery Wong, Tommy Lee and Admi Shahrul in a TVR Chimaera.
In 2002, Amprex Motorsport entered the Japan GT300 spec Mazda RX-7 machine, with crack Hong Kong driver Charles Kwan and Kevin Wong as its drivers. But the car failed to finish the race. Nigel Albon, Tommy Lee and T. Hamman won in their Porsche 911 GT3.
In 2003, the race got more serious with BSA Racing entering a Radical SR3 and a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup with Wolf Henzler as its lead driver, while Amprex Motorsport entered the BMW M3 GT for Charles Kwan, Matthew Marsh and Genji Hashimoto. Alex Yoong was also back with Jaseri Racing. But in the end unfancied G1-Meritus won the race after outlasting its rivals, with Eric Yeo, Firhat Mohkzani and Chin Tzer-Jinn driving their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car serenely to victory after completing 268 laps[1].
In 2004, Amprex Motorsport, armed with the latest ACO/FIA GT1 spec Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT racer, totally dominated proceedings as its drivers set laps of 2:09s around the circuit. But the car brokedown and Honda Malaysia Racing Team, with Eddie Lew, Farriz Fauzy and Super GT driver Hiroki Katoh, took the top step of the podium, despite running in class A.
The 2005 edition was dominated by a joint effort between Amprex Motorsport and Proton R3 Racing, together they operated the team and their Lotus Exige 300RR won outright, completing 279 laps.
In 2006, Amprex Motorsport decided to bring back the Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT for the race but it was crippled in a practice accident, allowing Proton R3 Racing's Lotus Exige 300RR a clear run to victory number 2, completing 271 laps in the process. Faidzil Alang, Australian Damien French and Tengku Djan Ley shared the driving duties.
The 2007 race has been made more interesting with more participation from foreign teams racing teams, namely J's Racing Lab with a Honda S2000 and Juniper Racing with a 911 GT3 RSR. Famous racing drivers such as former F1 and 24 Hours of Le Mans driver Hans-Joachim Stuck also participated in the race. Year 2007 also record the highest participation so far with 103 cars signing up for the race but only 77 makes it to the starting grid in accordance to the FIA circuit license granted to Sepang International Circuit.
In 2008, the race was won by Darryl O'Young, Mok Wing Sun and Alexander Nicholas Davison of Porsche Club Singapore. Their Porsche 997 RSR completed 308 laps.[2]
| Year | Team | Drivers | Car | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Petronas Syntium Team | Nobuteru Taniguchi Masataka Yanagidai Dominic Ang |
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 | 321 |
| 2010 | Arrows Racing | T.Hammam Peter Kox C. Haase |
Lamborghini LP560 | 315 |
| 2009 | Petronas Syntium Team | T.Kataoka M.Orido Johan Adzmi |
BMW Z4M Coupe | 306 |
| 2008 | Team Porsche Club Singapore | D.Nicholas Darryl O'Young Mok Wing Sun |
Porsche 997 RSR | 308 |
| 2007 | Team Hong Leong-Kencana Racing | Mokhzani Mahathir Sven Herberger Lars Erik Nielsen |
Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | 288 |
| 2006 | Proton R3 Team | Tengku Djan Ley Damien French Faidzil Alang |
Lotus Exige 300RR | 271 |
| 2005 | Proton R3 Amprex | Tengku Djan Ley Genji Hashimoto Tony Ricciardello |
Lotus Exige 300RR | 279 |
| 2004 | Honda Malaysia Racing Team | Eddie Lew Hiroki Katoh Farriz Fauzy |
Honda Civic 2.0 i-VTEC | 265 |
| 2003 | G1 Meritus | Eric Yeo Chin Tzer-Jinn Firhat Mohkzani |
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 268 |
| 2002 | Jaseri Racing | Nigel Albon T. Hamman Tommy Lee |
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 262 |
| 2001 | Team TVR | Jeffrey Wong Admi Sharhal Tommy Lee |
TVR Chimaera | 250 |
| 2000 | Proton EON Racing Team | Jimmy Low Karamjit Singh Tommy Lee |
Proton PERT | 253 |
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