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My
earlier efforts in 2000, 2001, and 2002 were all in my Proton
Satria 1600, with my own team and budget. But in 2003 I hit
the big time when took up an offer to drive a Porsche 993 with
Team Competizione. Yeah, we had the best chicks :)
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This
is it. At least I can proudly claim to have raced a Porsche
for 12hrs! It was great, and I have fallen in love with Porsches
every since.
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2004:
I was now with Proton Motorsports Division, brand name R3. This
was the first of 4 years as Team Manager.
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This
was what we raced for 2004: Lotus Exige. We completed the race
in 4th place, 30s behind 3rd place. So close... but we would
have our revenge!
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The
little Exige was pretty good. This was the first model, before
the supercharger. 190hp in a car that weighed 850kg. Performance
was decent, most of the gains coming from superior cornering
speed
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Errrr...
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2005:
This is when it got serious. You may have read of the Lotus
Exige RR in British car magazines back then. Yup, it was ours!
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The
Exige 300RR in a pitstop. 3.5L GM-engine with 400bhp. Great
car, but it was bad for the drivers as cockpit temperature averaged
75C
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Contrary
to popular belief it wasn't a walk in the park. I still have
all the records, lap-by-lap. We dropped down to 4th halfway
through, losing 8mins in the pits as repairs had to be conducted
on a leaking valve cover.
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Of
course we were lapping consistently faster than the remaining
Porsches, and were back at P1 30mins before the end of the race.
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For
2006 we were the reigning champions of MME. Could we hold the
crown? No other team had previously ever won the MME twice in
a row..
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Because
we could, we expanded our entry to included a Proton Waja 1.6
which would race in Class C, and launched a limited-edition
road-going version just weeks earlier to homologate the bodykit
(I designed it!)
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Stunning
night shot of the Exige 300RR during a routine night pitstop.
A few minutes later it rained, which turned the whole race upside
down..
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But
slick teamwork and a brilliant strategy by the Team Manager
(ahem! haha!!) saw Team Proton R3 retain the MME crown 2 years
on the trot. As an added bonus, our Proton Waja finished 3rd
in Class C. It was a great time for us at R3!
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The
2006 MME Champions (L-R: Damien, Me, Tengku Djan, Faidzil Alang)
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2007:
This year we turned our focus on Proton's core products, developing
a racing Satria Neo which would accompany the Waja in Class
C (below 1600cc). The Exige 300RR was rented out to a satellite
team of drivers which included Tommy Lee and Jazeman Firhan
(who was at that time only 14yrs old)
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Managing
Class C was a dawdle compared to the stress of running the Exige
300RR. Plus by this time our R3 team was so cohesive that everything
ran like clockwork. Leaving me time to make a stupid face for
the cameraman :P
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2008:
I left Proton and R3 to head back to telecommunications in late
07, so 2008 saw me racing with me mates Admi Shahrul and Khaidi
Kamaruddin. Between the 3 of us there was a combined 30 years
of experience. Theoretically we should do well
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And
we did! We qualified 6th, and by the 2nd hour when I took over
from Admi we were up to 2nd in Class B! Alas.. a cheap, reconditioned
driveshaft let us down when it broke 3 hrs in, and that was
that. Oh, and that's me as the Malaysian Stig :D
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