Toyota Takes Victory In 2022 Sepang 1000KM Race

The 14th edition of the Sepang 1000KM Race – better known as S1K – took place last weekend at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC). With a total of 77 cars taking part, the national endurance race was flagged off on Sunday morning at 9:30AM and concluded just a little after 6:00PM.

Taking overall victory here were the driving duo of Tengku Djan Ley and Muhammad Naquib in the Number 37 Toyota Gazoo Racing Malaysia team’s Toyota Vios. Competing in the premier MTC class, the duo crossed the line both in first place overall and first in their class after completing a total of 181 laps which took them a total of 8 Hrs 32 Mins 41.305 secs.

Though not his first win in the national endurance race event, last weekend’s victory was also another career milestone for Djan, also known as the ‘Prince of Drift’, as he charted his first for Toyota – he had previously won the enduro with Proton and finished on the podium for Honda too.

Notably, last weekend’s win was also a hard-fought redemption effort for Toyota Gazoo Racing Malaysia. The team saw its efforts falter last year with Djan’s car suffering technical issues that subsequently forced their retirement then. This year’s effort was anything but, given that both Djan and Naquib qualified on pole position and used it to their advantage to lead the race from start to finish.

Moreover, Djan’s co-driver, Muhammad Naquib, also marked a major career milestone in winning his first ever proper endurance race. Crucially, Naquib is also a prime result of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Malaysia development path.

Discovered initially through the Toyota Gazoo Racing e-sport (simulator racing) league where he was crowned champion, Naquib switched to real racing after which in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Vios Challenge series where he won the Rookie Class title in 2021. This promoted Naquib’s promotion into the series’ Sporting Class this year where he again showed his prowess and snatch the class’s title too.

Not to be outshined, coming in a strong second place overall and in the MTC class were the driving duo of Hayden Hiakal and Hii Wan Jian in the Number 30 Toyota Yaris of the Wing Hin Motorsports team. In fact, the duo were hot on the heels of Djan and Naquib, especially in the final 10 laps of the race, finishing just 6.299 seconds behind the Djan and Naquib as the chequered flag waived.

Coming in Third overall and in the MTC class were the driving duo of Mitchell Cheah and Brendan Paul Anthony in the Number 100 Hi-Rev Dream Chaser team’s Suzuki Swift. Both Mitchell and Brendan also completed 181 laps as the lead two entries ahead of team, taking the flag just 1 min 59.442 secs behind the winning Toyota Vios driven by Djan and Naquib.

Besides the premier MTC class, this year’s S1K race also saw three other categories contested too, those being the Stock Production (SP) 2-G, Stock Production (SP) 2-V, and the Gazoo Racing Vios Enduro Cup classes.

Taking victory in the SP2-G class were Mohd Syahrizal and Shazull Hisham of the Empire M Racing Team in the Number 34 Honda Jazz. The duo led the class and won after completing 171 laps in total.

The winning Empire M Racing Team duo shared the podium with the R Engineering HMRT’s trio of Tauhid Anwar, Ishayet Hossain and Andrea Cecchellero in second, followed by the Japanese driving trio of Ken Urata, Makoto Fujiwara and Masahiko Ida from the Rworks Riyoz team in third.

IN the SP2-V category, the Rworks Riyoz team celebrated in style with their 1-2 finish led by drivers William Cho Ng, Takashi Ito, Mohamed Hafiz Kamaruddin and Ahmad Ridhwan who took the chequered flag first after 168 laps in the team’s Number 289 Suzuki Swift. Trailing by 1 min 9.493 secs in second place were their teammates of Karurosu Honda, Ito Rina, Ohno Takahisa and Ng Kim Ngee in the team’s Number 4 Suzuki Swift sister car.

The final podium spot in the SP2-V class were the driving trio of Jansen Tan Lye Wee, Lim Wei Cheik, and Steve Toh Se Wai from the Applied Performance X LW team. Said driving trio, who charted 167 laps in the Number 667 Suzuki Swift, also marked an incredible by returning to race after being absent from which for almost 13 years.

Finally, in the Gazoo Racing Vios Enduro Cup class, top honours here were claimed by the 23 Motors team who scored a 1-2 finish. Driving the winning Number 23 Toyota Vios in this class were the father and son racing duo of Al Farouk and Abdul Miqail who completed 166 Laps in total. Coming in one lap down in second were their 23 Motors teammates Ady Rahimy and Amir Husin in the Number 123 Toyota Vios.

Taking the third and final podium spot in this class was the Carroof Motorsports team and their four-driver entry comprised of Mirza Syahmi, Aiman Haziq, Khair Nur Adi and Khair Nur Adli.

As this year’s edition of the Sepang 1000KM Race (S1K) concludes, it also marks the end of an eventful 2022 season of national level racing championships – most of which held at SIC – with teams and racers now enjoying a much-deserved end-of-season break. Visit SIC’s official website and social media pages to stay up-to-date on events and national championships it’s set to host in 2023.