Victory in the form of a podium finish may have eluded the Viper Niza Racing Team at the Motul Sepang 12 Hours endurance race last weekend but it was manifested as a valiant charge to successfully complete its first long distance race on the back of a challenging weekend.
With less than a day to rebuild its extensively damaged Aston Martin Vantage GT3, sorting out electrical gremlins and the limited practice time required to set-up the car, the trio of Douglas Khoo, Dominic Ang and Jazeman Jaafar overcame a host of challenges and setbacks to bring the car across the finish line with a total of 207 laps completed in 10th overall and 7th in the GT3 Class.
Team Principal and Driver, Douglas Khoo.
“It was a tough weekend. We received the parts to rebuild the car on Thursday, had less than a day to put it together while ironing out electrical gremlins and so little practice yet thanks to the team, drivers,
sponsors and our supporters, we successfully got the car across the finish competitively. To be honest, we weren’t sure if the car would even fire up on Thursday.”
The team’s Vantage GT3 had required the car to be rebuilt following an incident last month at the Asian Le Mans Series in Dubai where it was hit from behind by another driver on a straight had causing extensive chassis damage. The brand new chassis arrived in time but some other critical parts did not, yet the team pushed ahead to put the car back together as best it could.
Qualifying 8th, Viper Niza Racing endured a very trying start from the very opening stages of the race at its home event at the Sepang International Circuit. A spin and a drive through penalty within the first hour cost it valuable time, and then an unexpected mechanical stoppage due to fuelling issues approaching the 2-hour mark forced the Vantage GT3 to slow cruise back into pit lane. That dropped the team to as far back as 11th place before fighting its way back up.
“The race was super competitive and the conditions were very difficult, made even worse by the fact that the air-conditioning in the car was not working and it was baking hot. It wasn’t quite the result we were hoping for but it was nevertheless an important milestone for both the team and car having completed its first long distance test. We successfully finished and this is an important step towards unlocking the true potential of the car moving forward.”
The focus will now be on completing repairs to the car in time for the team’s next race at the Thailand
Super Series in April.