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Showing posts with label MMER. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MMER. Show all posts

Thursday, 26 December 2013

MSS & Sepang: Absolute Racing 2013 season review




By Johan Laubscher

Sepang hosted the Malaysian Super Series during 2013 and the Sepang 12 Hours, known as the Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race. Absolute Racing competed at the opening round of the MSS and also fielded Audi R8 LMS Cup backed cars in the MMER.

The opening Malaysian Super Series round was also a very special occasion, as it was the international race debut of the new 2013 specification Audi R8 LMS ultra.

The season review has been compiled from the 2013 Audi Motorsport Blog Weekend Round Up posts. Each round has been added as was seen in the individual Weekend Round Up posts during 2013, which can be accessed via the links throughout the review below:

Round 1: Sepang 

The MSS (Malaysian Super Series) held its opening round this weekend. The series is hosted at Sepang and was one of the support events for the Malaysian Grand Prix. Absolute Racing entered three cars for their clients: Jeffrey Lee (J-fly Racing), Philip Ma (Team Hong Kong Racing) and Francis Hideki Onda (Tunewear Racing). All three cars were 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra cars and this event played host to the worldwide race debut of the new specification ultra. The cars did well and Jeffrey Lee topped practice. The pace increased in qualifying and the race and ultimately the highest Audi in race one was sixth, followed by all three Audis in the top ten. Race two saw fourth as the highest placed finish, will all three in the top seven. The fourth overall was also a third in the GT Class for Lee.


MMER

The Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race (Sepang 12 Hours) was held this weekend. Four Audis took part, all run by Absolute Racing. Three Audi R8 LMS Cup team cars took part, entered in the GTC class. One Audi was entered in the top GT3 class, the #777 J-Fly Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra driven by Jeffrey Lee, Marchy Lee, Adderly Fong. Onda’s #888 Audi R8 LMS ultra was also entered and on site, but it was withdrawn from the event during the week running up to the race. The #777 Audi was the best placed during qualifying, having taken tenth spot. Alex Yoong took pole in the GTC class, behind the wheel of the #66 R8 LMS. The race began at midnight on Sunday morning and continued through the dark and into the daylight. The #777 Audi R8 LMS ultra progressed steadily and made it into the top three. An unfortunate issue with the brakes cost them time and they ultimately finished seventh overall. There was an 1-2 Audi finish within the GTC class, as the #66 Audi R8 LMS finished first in class, eighth overall.


Photo credit: 


Tuesday, 6 August 2013

MMER: Five Audis on the MMER Sepang 12 Hours entry list




By Johan Laubscher


The Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race, Sepang 12 Hours, will be taking place at the end of August. It is an event which Audi teams have come very close to winning in the past. Audi entries took part and finished second in this event in 2010 and 2011, and now after a year’s absence, Audi cars will be returning to the MMER in 2013. 

Currently five Audi R8 LMS and ultra cars are on the provisional entry list. The Audi entries are regular teams which compete in Asia, all run and supported by Absolute Racing. Two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars from GT Asia will be entered in the GT class, running within the GT3 division. Three older Audi R8 LMS cars will also be running within GT, but within the GTC division. These three cars/teams are from the Audi R8 LMS Cup. So far only one driver per Audi has been nominated, but the full entry list is expected soon, as the race is less than a month away.

Audis on the provisional entry list:

GT3

J-Fly Racing (Absolute Racing) - Audi R8 LMS ultra - Jeffrey Lee

Tunewear Racing (Absolute Racing) - #888 Audi R8 LMS ultra - Francis Hideki Onda

GTC

Tiger Racing (Absolute Racing) - Audi R8 LMS - Jacky Yeung

Brothers Racing Team (Absolute Racing)

BRT1 - Audi R8 LMS - Ren Wei

BRT2 - Audi R8 LMS - Sun Zhen

Thus five Audis are on the provisional entry list, and only time will tell if more will join. At the beginning of 2013 there was mentioned that the red Melbourne Performance Centre R8 LMS ultra of Mark Eddy and Marc Cini might be considered for this event as well, but as of yet there has been no announcement. With two previous second place finishes, the top Audi teams in the race this year will be gunning for overall victory. The 2013 Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race will be taking place from 29-31 August. 

The provisional entry list can be seen HERE.

Photo credit: Absolute Racing / Audi R8 LMS Cup


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