ADMI SHAHRUL ROLLED BACK HIS GLORY YEARS IN SEPANG
SEPANG 1000KM ENDURANCE – QUALIFYING
Friday, 10th November 2017 - Former Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race (MMER) champion, Admi Shahrul Ahmad Safian rolled back his glory years when he helped Proton R3 Motorsports to secure pole position fortomorrow’s Sepang 1000km Endurance Race (S1K).
Winner of the 12-hour MMER in 2001 with Tommy Lee and Jeffrey Wong, the professional racing instructor recorded a sensational 2 minutes 39.227 seconds for his best lap time around the 5,543-meter in his #82 Proton Suprima S machine.
Partnering another top driver, James Veerapan, who recorded an equally impressive 2 minutes 39.352 seconds for his best lap, the dynamic duo recorded 2 minutes 39.289 seconds as the average best lap time to climb to the top of the time sheet and the top of the grid.
Admi, who will be driving first for tomorrow’s race, will be joined at the front row by his Proton R3 team-mates – former Asia Touring Car Championship and Japan Super Taikyu, Fariqe Hairuman and Syafiq Ali, who will be vying for his third S1K crown.
Driving a Proton Iriz machine, the highly experienced partnership and a leading contender for this year’s crown, clocked 2 minutes 39.303 seconds as their average best lap time to secure second on the grid.
The high-profile Tedco Racing – pitting a Malaysian-Indonesian-Australian partnership of Nick Mah, Fitra Eri and Chris O’Shannessy, was third in the time sheet, with an average best lap time of 2 minutes 39.808 seconds around the challenging track.
Commenting on his performance, Admi said he was happy to be starting from pole position, but was quick to add that it would be a long race and anything could happen.
“It was a bit a mix feeling. We prepared car #82 for a wet qualifying session. But the track dried up quicker then what we expected. There was a bit of time lost to set the car back to dry set-up.
There was also quite a bit of traffic on track. We are pretty much happy with the results given the circumstances,” he said.
TOP SIX FIVE QUALIFIERS – BEST AVERAGE TIME
1. Admi Shahrul Ahmad Safian/James Veerapen (Proton Suprima S) - 2:39.289s
2. Fariqe Hairuman/Syafiq Ali (Proton Iriz) - 2:39.303s
3. Nick Mah/Chris O’Shannessy/Fitra Eri (Suzuki Swift) - 2:39.808s
4. Aaron Lim/Farriz Fauzy (Honda Jazz) - 2:40.946s
5. Mark Darwin/Ahmad Akid Nor (Honda City) - 2:41.019s
6. Boy Wong/ William Ho(Toyota Vios) - 2:41.317s
For more information, please contact SIC National Press Officer Nor Lina Ayob at
norlina.ayob@sepangcircuit.com