Championship winning superbike team campaigning in the car endurance racing for the first time.

With a mixed team of drivers, winning superbike set-up Pineapple Motor Sports knows that the odds will be against them at the 2008 Petronas Primax 3 Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race as it will be the first time that they have entered in a four-wheel race and will pit themselves against top class drivers and powerful racing machines for the 12-hour endurance race in Sepang come 28 to 30 August.

However, among the three drivers to the team, Pineapple Motor Sports have managed to secure and field seasoned driver and three-time Merdeka Millenium Endurance (MME) Race winner Tommy Lee as part of the team. Tommy, a familiar face in local and regional car races, will lead the team in the endurance-prepared Porsche 997 GT3 RS Cup Car.

The other two drivers will be Pineapple Motor Sports team principal, former MSS bike racer and JPM Integra Cup driver Ahmad Razlan Ahmad Razali and Australian biking ace and 2007 MSS motorcycle champion Brent Odgers. Both drivers have minimal experience in car endurance racing but are confident that they will do well in the Porsche with Tommy at the helm.

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 during the past few weeks. “The odds maybe against us, but our (the team’s) objective is to qualify and finish the race. Any other results is a bonus for us,” said Pineapple Motor Sports team principal and driver Ahmad Razlan.

While Tommy Lee is considered as an international class racer with experience competing in the top classes of the MME and also the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, Ahmad Razlan has only plied his skills at the 2006 JPM Integra Cup Series in the Malaysian Super Series (MSS). However, being a keen motorcyclist and, at present, a successful motorcycle race team owner he has dabbled in several rounds of MSS motorcycle racing in the past. Odgers on the other hand has been successful in the MSS motorcycle series where he has been crowned 2003 and 2007 overall champion.

Speaking at the Press Launch held at the Naza showroom in Petaling Jaya, Tommy when asked said that the team, based on the car and set-up, have good hopes of qualifying within the top five for their ‘O’ class campaign. “The competition will come from the other teams that are racing Porsches. There are a few teams racing the latest Porsche RSR machines that are very hard to beat,” he revealed.

Brent on the other hand said that he was adapting well to the car, despite coming from a motorcycle racing background. “The transition from two wheels to four wheels was smooth for me. Basically it’s very similar to motorcycles, but there are minor differences in terms of the racing lines and car dynamics which are different from bikes,” he said.

Ahmad Razlan said the team had considered campaigning other types of performance cars to boost their challenge for the ninth edition of the MME this year; but eventually decided to try their luck in the Porsche 997 GT3 RS Cup Car. “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,” he said, adding that this time will also see the Pineapple Motor Sports Team, that has been successful in superbike racing, develop into car racing for the first time.

“This is our first time three of us are racing together as a team and we believe that we have the machine that could help finish the race for us,” said Ahmad Razlan in reference to their participation for the 12-hour race. On a personal note, he added that this year’s participation has somehow re-ignited his passion for motor racing after three consecutive years of failures in trying to participate in the MME.

Main sponsors, Porsche Centre Penang’s dealer principal Nizam Arifin said that Naza Prestige and Porsche Centre Penang are proud to be associated with Pineapple Motor Sports despite the team campaigning for the first time in the MME.

(More updates on the race results soon!)

Meantime, CLICK & check out recent pictures

The clip shows the quick fix on the rear end of the car after a small collision in the first few laps within the race. Change of driver to Brent.

"That was my second stint of supposedly 75 minutes or 28 laps but I was quite tired and came in at 25 or 26 laps." - Razlan Razali

msportbike.com

Final top 10 position (Unofficial):

1) Team Porsche Club Singapore -308 laps

2) Kencana - Hong Leong - 305 laps

3) Danville Motorsports (Class O) - 292 laps

4) Petronas Syntium Team - 288 laps

5) VRD Motorsport - 287 laps

6) ARC Bratislava - 286 laps

7) Mal Rose / Peter Leemhuis - 283 laps

8) Pineapple Motor Sports Racing Team - 280 laps

9) J’S Racing Labs - 279 laps

10) Danville Motorsports (Class A) - 279 laps

msportbike.com