Toyota continues winning tradition at Sepang 1000KM endurance race

Three Toyotas finished in the top 5 overall positions at the recent Sepang 1000KM Endurance Race (S1K), with overall victory taken by former Toyota GAZOO Racing Malaysia rookies Amer Harris and Nabil Azlan of the Wing Hin Motorsport Toyota dealer team.

Their victory also have the Toyota Yaris its first significant win in a local event after completing 169 laps, 5 more than the closest rival.

Although defending S1K champions Tengku Djan Ley and Naquib Azlan in a Toyota GAZOO Racing Malaysia Vios were aiming to do a hattrick, they missed out this time but still had a place on the podium with a third overall finish. They were beaten across the finish line by the trio of Mitchell Cheah/Fitra Eri/Rahul Raj Mayer.

Having 3 cars in the top 5 overall placings were identical to Toyota’s accomplishment in the 2022 event, and marks the third successive year that Toyota drivers have been on the podium since the brand officially joined S1K in 2021.

A notable fact was that all the 13 Toyotas (11 Vios and 2 Yaris) that took part were able to complete the race without any of them having to retire. The race had started with 77 entries and only 58 were classified as finishers.

The S1K included the GAZOO Racing Vios Enduro Cup which ran as an individual class within the race. The winners were Axle Sports’ trio of Tse Kah Hing, Mikko Nassi and Wu Hin Lun who won RM10,000. Finishing 2nd, 1 lap down and earning RM8,000 for their efforts was Race Rally KL’s Shafiq Samsudin, Ahmad Nadzrie and Kelvin Yap. In 3rd was the 23 Motors pair of Abdul Miqail and Amir Mirza who took home prize money totalling RM6,000.

“To have Toyota cars on the podium for 3 consecutive years of the S1K, including winning two overall victories, certainly makes it the icing on the cake. Reliability has been the hallmark of Toyota with the brand progressively transitioning into performance driven by its achievements in motorsports globally and on the local front,” said UMW Toyota Motor President, Datuk Ravindran K.

“Both the Yaris and Vios have endured 3 years of trials and tribulations on the track and emerged triumphant. This is testament of the models’ true capability and Toyota’s commitment to build ever better cars for our customers,” he added.

The Vios model used by Tengku Djan and Naquib Azlan has proven its durability over 6 years of racing in the GR Vios Challenge. Additionally, the same cars used in the one-make series have also been run in the GR Vios Sprint Cup for 3 years, and in the S1K.

With the new 4th generation Vios having been launched in Malaysia in March this year, Toyota GAZOO Racing Malaysia has also developed a new generation of the Vios for motorsport. It is built on a newly developed lightweight DNGA platform which utilizes a continuous frame design and high tensile materials. This has resulted in increased rigidity and is 100 kgs lighter than the outgoing model. Preliminary testing with the standard 1.5-litre powertrain has already seen competitive lap times around the Sepang circuit.

The 4th generation of the Vios , launched in Malaysia in March 2023.

“The Vios remains one of the most popular B-Segment cars in the market and it has also been instrumental in propelling Toyota to the leading non-national brand in Malaysia,” said Datuk Ravindran.

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