Toyota Gazoo Racing Malaysia Takes Third S1K Podium Finish

Despite missing out on victory, Toyota still charted strong success during last weekend's S1K endurance race.

Toyota Gazoo Racing Malaysia charted a hat-trick of podium finishes in the Sepang 1000 KM (S1K) last weekend at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit (SIC). During which, divers Tengku Djan Ley and Naquib Azlan drove the team’s MTC Class Toyota Vios racecar and placed third overall.

Though Djan and Naquib were unable to defend their title from last year, there were still plenty of reasons to celebrate within the Toyota camp. Besides Djan and Naquib, two other Toyota-backed efforts placed in the top five, with one even claiming the overall win.

Both Djan and Naquib settled for third overall with their Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota Vios racecar.

It was Toyota’s satellite Wing Hin Motorsports effort that claimed victory last weekend. At the helm of the team’s Toyota Yaris MTC Class racecar were the driving duo of Amer Harris and Nabil Azlan – former Toyota Gazoo Racing rookies.

Both drivers battled it out against both the clock and fierce competition over nine gruelling hours. Nevertheless, as the checkered flag waved, Amer and Nabil had already secured the win with a comfortably 5-lap gap ahead of second place competitors – the duo completed 169 laps in total.

Djan and Naquib (centre) with eventual winners Wing Hin Motorsports (left) at last weekend's S1K race held last weekend at Petronas SIC.

Further down the field, the Gazoo Racing Vios Enduro Cup run concurrently with S1K’s SP2 category also saw fierce competition amongst its 10 entries. Coming out on top here were the driving trio of Tse Kah Hing, Mikko Nassi, and Wu Hin Lun from the Axle Sports teams.

Said trio beat out second-placed Race Rally KL team’s trio of Shafiq Samsudin, Ahmad Nadzrie, and Kelvin Yap with a 1-lap gap. Coming in third here were the 23 Motors team pair of Abdul Miqail and Amir Mirza.

Whilst the competition class’s grand prize purse of RM10,000 was awards to the Axle Sports trio mentioned, both the second and third place finishers were also awards with RM8,000 and RM6,000 in prize monies too.

Of the 77 cars that started S1K 2023 on Saturday, just 55 cars were classified as race finishers. 

Despite its lead team unable to chart overall victory, UMW Toyota Motor also acknowledged the fact that all 13 entries across both the MTC and Vios Enduro Cup saw no retirements. Of the 77 cars in total that began the race, just 58 were officially classified as finishers.

"Both the Yaris and Vios have endured three years of trials and tribulations on the track and emerged triumphant, and this is testament of the models’ true capability and Toyota’s commitment to build ever better cars for our customers,” said Datuk Ravindran K., UMW Toyota Motor’s president.