Kimi and Kiefli Join Forces For MME

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.