From Two To Four Wheels; From MSS To MME…

Malaysia’s powerhouse in biking – Pineapple Motor Sports – will be venturing into four wheels at the 2008 Petronas Primax 3 Merdeka Millennium Endurance race with Malaysian Super Series (MSS) three-time superbike champion Brent Odgers putting his driving skills for the first time around Sepang Circuit.

Tommy Lee, Brent Odgers, Ahmad Razlan Ahmad Razali 

Odgers, who was recently installed at the 2008 winner for the Open Superbike Championship with a round to spare, would need to prove he is as good in a Porsche 997 GT3 RS Cup Car as he had was on the four-stroke Honda CBR1000 bike as each and every driver would need to contribute their lap time to get them past qualifying and earning a place on the starting grid.

On paper, the Australian looked to the weakest link as the other drivers in the team are Ahmad Razlan Ahmad Razali, who would be competing at the MME with a full season in the JPM Integra Cup Malaysia while Tommy Lee needs no introduction within Malaysia’s racing community. Both had competed on two wheels in the MSS with Razlan – the team principal of Pineapple Motor Sports – in the Superbike Championship and Tommy in the 600cc Supersports Championship.

“With the Porsche and Tommy’s experience, I believe that we can motivate ourselves to fully complete the race and maybe even mount a challenge to the other teams,” said Ahmad Razali, who noted that with a mixed team of drivers, the odds will be against them.

Despite its impressive record in the biking competition, it would be the first time that Pineapple Motor Sports had entered in a four-wheel race and pit themselves against top class drivers and powerful racing machines at the 12-hour endurance race in Sepang.

Without doubt, they would be looking to the brilliance and experience of Tommy – a three-time MME champion and a regular in local and regional car races, to lead the team in the endurance-prepared Porsche machine.

During the past few weeks running to the race, Tommy, who is also a qualified Porsche instructor, has shared his vast MME racing experiences and other fine points of racing with Ahmad Razlan and Odgers.

“The odds maybe against us, but we are determined to qualify and finish the race. Any other results would be a bonus for us,” said Ahmad Razlan, adding that the team had considered using other types of performance cars to boost their challenge in the race but eventually decided to try their luck in the Porsche 997 GT3 RS Cup Car.

“This is our first time the three of us are racing together as a team, but we believe that we have the machine that could help finish the race for us,” said Ahmad Razlan, adding that this year’s participation had somehow re-ignited his passion for motor racing after three consecutive years of failed attempts to participate in the MME.

For Tommy, it is again another new MME experience; picking up two more new partners in his nine years participation of the MME. The first three years had provided three championship trophies; but the previous one last year with Malaysia’s racing prodigee Jazeman Jaafar and Bill Ng of Singapore had been frustrating.

Except for Kunimitsu Takahasi who had partnered Tommy twice in 2004 and 2005 and his achievements had been mixed including winning the first three edition with three different teams and three different set of drivers.
“2008, your guess is as good as mine,” said Tommy, who also raced rallies and jetski in his younger days.

Tommy MME Partners & Results

2008 : Razlan Razali, Brent Odgers – Targeting to finish the race for Class O
2007 : Jazeman Jaafar & Bill Ng – Did Not Finish (Class O)
2006 : Mokhzani Mahathir, Sven Herberger – Third overall, Third in Class O
2005 : Kunimitsu Takahashi, Ryo Michigami – Did Not Finish
2004 : Kunimitsu Takahashi, Mitsusada – Third overall, Second in Class A
2003 : Tengku Djan Ley, Keifli Othman – Did Not Finish 
2002 : Nigel Albon & Tunku Hammam – Overall champion, First in Open Class
2001 : Jeffrey Wong & Admi Shahrul – Overall champion, First in Class A
2000 : Jimmy Low & Karamjit Singh – Overall champion, First in Open Class