KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 — A special downtown city parade was organised today showcasing racing cars and bikes from the FIM World Endurance Championship (EWC) Sepang 8 Hours and FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) line as the curtain opening for Races of Malaysia at Sepang International Circuit (SIC) from Dec 13 to 15.
The downtown city parade was hosted in collaboration with Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) to introduce the Races of Malaysia to the local fans and also as an introduction to the race teams of EWC and WTCR who are mostly new to Malaysia.
A total of 16 EWC and eight units of WTCR cars gathered at Matic Kuala Lumpur with a special welcoming event by Tourism Malaysia before the motorcade was flagged off by deputy director-general of Tourism Malaysia Datuk Mohamed Razip Hassan.
The tour ended with a special engagement activity with fans of two wheels and four wheels who have gathered at Dataran Merdeka.
Sepang International Circuit (SIC) chief executive officer Datuk Razlan Razali said Malaysia would be presenting one of the largest line-ups of Malaysian talents for the Races of Malaysia.
“SIC aims to bring in world championship events to Malaysia that will not just fuel the thirst of motorheads here but also provides a platform for our Malaysian talents to participate and compete in world-class level.
“I am glad to see seven of our Malaysian riders competing in the FIM EWC and another three in the FIA WTCR. It will be an exciting weekend and I urge all motorsport fans to come and join in support of our local talents,” he said at the downtown parade event.
Malaysian MotoGP rider Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah would be challenging himself this weekend by racing in the Sepang 8 Hours motorcycle endurance race on Saturday and also his debut race in the WTCR driving a Hyundai i30 N TCR under the Hyundai Team Engstler alongside teammate and Malaysia’s promising motorsport talent Mitchell Cheah on Sunday.
Malaysia’s very own local team HKM Speed Racing have entered the EWC with Muhammad Farid Badrul Hisham, who was previously in the Asia Road Race Racing (ARRC) SS600 Championship, partnering former Moto3 rider Amirul Haziq Azmi and 2017 Supermoto Novice Class champion Ahmad Danial Haikal.
Another known local rider, Zaqhwan Zaidi, would pit his skills under Honda Asia Dream Racing with Showa while newly crowned Asia ARRC champion in Superbike elite 1000cc Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman and Petronas Sprinta Racing Moto3 rider Adam Norrodin made up the final entry for the EWC.
On the four-wheel side, apart from Hafizh Syahrin and Mitchell, a wildcard entry from Douglas Koo with Viper Niza Racing would showcase a line-up of three Malaysian drivers competing in the WTCR against world champions forming the 2019 WTCR Supergrid.
Race week would begin on Wednesday with the circuit open to the public from Friday for the WTCR qualifying sessions followed by the EWC race day with the Sepang 8 Hours on Saturday, and the finale of the WTCR race would happen over three sprint races on Sunday.
-bernama.
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