Keeping straight to its tradition, there will be no changes in the format of the race where there will be 3 drivers who will take turns to complete the 12 hours of racing non-stop. Only 1 car is allowed to be used for the race around the circuit. On top of that, a maximum of 75 minutes is allocated to each driver where they must rest for a minimum of two-thirds of the driving time for their driving turn. This means that each driver is only allowed to drive for 5 accumulated hours in maximum.
The date of the race has been moved forward from its original last week of August to the second weekend due to the fact that the fasting month for Muslims this month falls during the end of August.
The MME is one of the major events for local motorsports lovers and drivers alike because this is one race which tests everything in race car driving, endurance of the drivers and the machines they drive. It boosts the driver’s performance to its limits and is a lot of teams train throughout the year for this.
In its inception year, there were a total of 55 teams and it was held in conjunction with the Merdeka Day celebrations. The following year saw more teams participating which was increased to 78 teams that allowed for teams from overseas to compete as well like Hong Kong, Australia and Japan.
Among some of the big names to have competed in the MME are like Malaysia’s very own Formula 1 driver Alex Yoong, Mohamed Fairuz who is working his way up into another Formula 1 car soon as well as other renowned drivers like Adam Lokman, Karamjit Singh, Keifli Othman and Jimmy Low. To say the least, the race takes up 12 hours not only from the drivers and teams but spectators too. Hence a lot of people come to Sepang with food and enjoy the carnival like atmosphere here. Some come one, come all to our very own custom-made, home-made motorsports event, August 6 to August 8 2009 at the Sepang International Circuit.
