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Keifli Othman and Faizal Hakimi Jaafar – two big names in Malaysia’s motor
racing fraternity – will be joining forces for the first time in the
Merdeka Millennium Endurance (MME) race despite being close friends as far
as they can remember.
“I don’t know why; but we just never had the opportunity to drive together
at the MME. Perhaps, we never really thought about it. Maybe, because we
were so close, we just want to beat one another for the fun of it,” said
Faizal Hakimi, who is better known as Kimi within the racing circle.
“But, whatever it is, we are together for the 2008 race and we aim to do
well; and we are confident of doing well this year despite the fact that
the 2008 race is going to be very tough for everyone,” said Kimi, who
would be joined by another MME regular Abdul Razak Mohoideen as the third
driver for the 12-hour race.
Running under team JC Racing Firstrax and competing in Class A with a
Honda Integra Type R, the trio had declared that they are fully prepared
and raring to go for the top prize as they would be backed by the
illustrious and master strategist Jacky Ng, the team principal of JC
Racing.
“The team looks strong this year and I must admit that it’s been a long
time coming with me finally partnering Kiefli in the same car,” said Kimi
whom before this was Kiefli’s teammate in the successful Team Genesis
World Racing, which won the 300km Proton International Merdeka Race in
1998.
At the MME, Kimi has a better record than both Keifli and Razak; having
won the open class in 2001 with Petronas EON Racing Team (PERT);
partnering Eric Yeo and Mike Phua as is best result. Keifli finished ninth
overall last year; partnering Peter Leemhuis and Tony Alford in a Honda
Integra DC5.
A total of 28 cars had been registered for Class A and the team’s
immediate task would be to finish among the top 20 in qualifying on Friday
(August 29) to secure their place in the actual race on Saturday (August
30).
One hundred and two cars had been enrolled for the 2008 Petronas Primax 3
Merdeka Millennium Endurance race and only the fastest 77 cars would be
selected as according to their classes. Like Class A, the open class would
also be allocated 20 places. Nineteen other places would be reserved for
Class B for cars between 1600cc and 1901cc while Class C for cars below
1600cc would have 18 cars.
“We expect some tough welcoming reception from the other drivers but I’m
sure we would be ready come race day and with our combined past racing
experiences, we’ll get our way around any possible obstacles and I have
full faith in Kiefli and Razak in producing some consistent times while
keeping out of trouble on track during the race,” Kimi explained further.
Sharing the same sentiment is Razak who said that it felt like a gathering
of old friends. “I have a good feeling about this year’s MME especially
being teammates with my old buddies Kimi and Kiefli and everyone knows,
they are race winning drivers, so I hope to learn some new things from
them and not be too slow in the race,” said an enthusiastic Razak.
Sponsored by an IT company, Firstrax Sdn Bhd, Team JC Racing Firstrax
would be fully supported by JC Racing, which had also entered three other
cars for the race including another Class A entry of Harry Chai, Erwin
Azizi and his brother, Erwan.
Its two other entries are a trio of Hong Kong drivers Michael Lee Yee
Shing, Tam Kai Wing and Chu Chi Chung, competing in Class B in a Honda
Integra DC2; and Australians Benjamin Shalders, James Higgins and Ken
Pendlebury in a Honda Civic EK9 machine for Class C.
Organised as part of the upcoming Merdeka Day celebrations, entry is free
at the Main Grandstand for all fans to enjoy the event, which would also
feature side events for the spectators.
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