# Sepang 12 Hours

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sepang_12_Hours
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sepang_12_Hours.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepang_12_Hours
> Source revision: 1354525908
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Motor race

Sepang 12 Hours Venue Sepang International Circuit First race 2000 Duration 12 Hours Most wins (manufacturer) Porsche (5)

The **Sepang 12 Hours** (formerly known as the **Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race** and **Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race**), was a 12 Hours [endurance racing](/source/Endurance_racing_(motorsport)) event held annually between 2000 and 2016 at the [Sepang International Circuit](/source/Sepang_International_Circuit) on December in [Malaysia](/source/Malaysia).

It was organised by the [Stephane Ratel Organisation](/source/Stephane_Ratel_Organisation), responsible for global GT3 standards in international sportscar racing.

The race was part of the inaugural [Intercontinental GT Challenge](/source/Intercontinental_GT_Challenge) in [2016](/source/2016_Intercontinental_GT_Challenge).

## Schedule

Historically part of the [Merdeka](/source/Merdeka) holiday, the race was moved to December by Ratel to make the race as the first of four major endurance races held in the Northern Hemisphere winter, the traditional off-season of motorsport, with the others the [Dubai 24 Hour](/source/Dubai_24_Hour) (Creventic 24H Series) and the [Rolex 24 at Daytona](/source/24_Hours_of_Daytona) (IMSA [WeatherTech SportsCar Championship](/source/WeatherTech_SportsCar_Championship) in January, and the [Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour](/source/Bathurst_12_Hour) in February are the others.

## History

### 1990–2000

In the late 1990s, Malaysian auto manufacturer [Proton](/source/Proton_(automobile)) used to organize a 300 km race at Shah Alam circuit for local racers racing with Protons, to celebrate Merdeka in Malaysia. When Sepang International Circuit was built the race was shifted to the F1 circuit, with the winners of the race entitled to a new Proton road car.

But after the 1999 race, a dispute happened between Proton and Sepang International Circuit, resulting in Proton's sponsorship withdrawal. Sepang therefore decided to host a replacement race by itself and started the Merdeka Millennium 12 Hours Endurance Race in 2000. The race also opened up for non-Proton entries.

The inaugural race was won by the Proton EON Racing Team (PERT) with Jimmy Low, [Karamjit Singh](/source/Karamjit_Singh) and Tommy Lee driving, beating off the challenge from TVR Racing who ran Malaysian F1 driver [Alex Yoong](/source/Alex_Yoong).

### 2001–2017

2006 Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race logo

In 2001, TVR Racing won the race with Jeffery Wong, Tommy Lee and Admi Shahrul in a [TVR Chimaera](/source/TVR_Chimaera).

In 2002, Amprex Motorsport entered the Japan GT300 spec Mazda RX-7 machine, with crack Hong Kong driver [Charles Kwan](/source/Charles_Kwan) and Kevin Wong as its drivers. But the car failed to finish the race. [Nigel Albon](/source/Nigel_Albon), Tommy Lee and T. Hamman won in their [Porsche 911 GT3](/source/Porsche_911_GT3).

In 2003, the race got more serious with BSA Racing entering a Radical SR3 and a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup with Wolf Henzler as its lead driver, while Amprex Motorsport entered the BMW M3 GT for Charles Kwan, [Matthew Marsh](/source/Matthew_Marsh_(racing_driver)) and [Genji Hashimoto](/source/Genji_Hashimoto). Alex Yoong was also back with Jaseri Racing. But in the end unfancied G1-Meritus won the race after outlasting its rivals, with Eric Yeo, Firhat Mohkzani and Chin Tzer-Jinn driving their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car serenely to victory after completing 268 laps.[1]

In 2004, Amprex Motorsport, armed with the latest [ACO](/source/Automobile_Club_de_l'Ouest)/[FIA](/source/F%C3%A9d%C3%A9ration_Internationale_de_l'Automobile) [GT1](/source/Sports_car_racing#Grand_Touring) spec [Lamborghini Murcielago](/source/Lamborghini_Murcielago) R-GT racer, totally dominated proceedings as its drivers set laps of 2:09s around the circuit. But the car broke down and [Honda Malaysia Racing Team](/source/Honda_Malaysia_Racing_Team), with Eddie Lew, Farriz Fauzy and [Super GT](/source/Super_GT) driver [Hiroki Katoh](/source/Hiroki_Katoh), took the top step of the podium, despite running in class A.

The 2005 edition was dominated by a joint effort between Amprex Motorsport and Proton R3 Racing, together they operated the team and their [Lotus Exige](/source/Lotus_Exige) 300RR won outright, completing 279 laps.

In 2006, Amprex Motorsport decided to bring back the Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT for the race but it was crippled in a practice accident, allowing Proton R3 Racing's Lotus Exige 300RR a clear run to victory number 2, completing 271 laps in the process. Faidzil Alang, Australian Damien French and Tengku Djan Ley shared the driving duties.

The 2007 race has been made more interesting with more participation from foreign teams racing teams, namely J's Racing Lab with a [Honda S2000](/source/Honda_S2000) and Juniper Racing with a 911 GT3 RSR. Famous racing drivers such as former [F1](/source/Formula_One) and [24 Hours of Le Mans](/source/24_Hours_of_Le_Mans) driver [Hans-Joachim Stuck](/source/Hans-Joachim_Stuck) also participated in the race. Year 2007 also record the highest participation so far with 103 cars signing up for the race but only 77 makes it to the starting grid in accordance to the FIA circuit license granted to Sepang International Circuit.

In 2008, the race was won by [Darryl O'Young](/source/Darryl_O'Young), Mok Wing Sun and Alexander Nicholas Davison of Porsche Club Singapore. Their Porsche 997 RSR completed 308 laps.[2]

The race was renamed the Sepang 12 Hours in 2014, and in 2015 was run under the organisation of international sportscar racing authority the Stephane Ratel Organisation.[3]

The race in 2017 was cancelled due to a lack of entries, and has not been held since.[4]

### 2018–2022

After a break of 5 years, in 2022 it was announced race was returning for 2023 - the revival of the race is going to be organized by a partnership between Top Speed and Sepang International Circuit.[5]

## Overall winners

Year Team Drivers Car Laps 2000 Proton EON Racing Team Jimmy Low Karamjit Singh Tommy Lee Proton PERT 253 2001 Team TVR Jeffrey Wong Admi Sharhal Tommy Lee TVR Chimaera 250 2002 Jaseri Racing Nigel Albon Tunku Hammam Tommy Lee Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 262 2003 G1 Meritus Eric Yeo Chin Tzer-Jinn Firhat Mohkzani Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 268 2004 Honda Malaysia Racing Team Eddie Lew Hiroki Katoh Farriz Fauzy Honda Civic 2.0 i-VTEC 265 2005 Proton R3 Amprex Tengku Djan Ley Genji Hashimoto Tony Ricciardello Lotus Exige 300RR 279 2006 Proton R3 Team Tengku Djan Ley Damien French Faidzil Alang Lotus Exige 300RR 271 2007 Team Hong Leong-Kencana Racing Mokhzani Mahathir Sven Herberger Lars Erik Nielsen Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 288 2008 Team Porsche Club Singapore Alex Davison Darryl O'Young Weng Sun Mok Porsche 997 RSR 308 2009 Petronas Syntium Team Johan Adzmi Tatsuya Kataoka Manabu Orido BMW Z4M Coupe 306 2010 Arrows Racing Christopher Haase Tunku Hammam Peter Kox Lamborghini LP560 315 2011 Petronas Syntium Team Dominic Ang Nobuteru Taniguchi Masataka Yanagida Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 321 2012 Petronas Syntium Team Dominic Ang Nobuteru Taniguchi Masataka Yanagida Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 319 2013 Clearwater Racing Craig Baird Hiroshi Hamaguchi Weng Sun Mok Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 323 2014 Clearwater Racing Gianmaria Bruni Alif Hamdan Weng Sun Mok Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 325 2015 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Stuart Leonard Stéphane Ortelli Laurens Vanthoor Audi R8 LMS 228 2016 Audi Sport Team Phoenix Robin Frijns Christopher Haase Laurens Vanthoor Audi R8 LMS 305 2017 Race Cancelled[6] 2018 – 2022 Not held 2023 Absolute Racing Andrew Haryanto Markus Winkelhock James Yu Audi R8 LMS Evo II 215 2024 R&B Racing Lu Wei Leo Ye Hongli Bo Yuan Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 322 2025 33R Harmony Racing Jason Loh Chen Weian Luo Kailuo Jazeman Jaafar Ferrari 296 GT3 328

### Multiple race winners

Wins Driver 3 Tommy Lee Weng Sun Mok 2 Tengku Djan Ley Tunku Hammam Sulong Nobuteru Taniguchi Masataka Yanagida Dominic Ang Christopher Haase Laurens Vanthoor

Wins Manufacturer 5 Porsche 3 Audi Ferrari 2 Lotus Mercedes-Benz

## Records

- Tommy Lee is the only driver to have won the Open class three times. He raced for three different teams for the wins: PERT, TVR and Jaseri Racing.

- The [Honda Malaysia Racing Team](/source/Honda_Malaysia_Racing_Team) (HMRT) has won class A five times in a row from 2003 to 2007,[7] it also won the race overall in 2004.

- Malaysian driver [Jazeman Jaafar](/source/Jazeman_Jaafar) became the youngest participant of MMER in 2007, at the age of 14.

- Team Porsche Club Singapore became the first foreign team to win the Merdeka Millennium Endurance in 2008.[2]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["BSA racing debut at MME"](https://web.archive.org/web/20071206044730/http://www.radicalextremesportscars.com/news_folder/mme/index.php). radicalextremesportscars.com. 30 August 2003. Archived from [the original](http://www.radicalextremesportscars.com/news_folder/mme/index.php) on 6 December 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2008.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-pcs_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-pcs_2-1) ["Porsche Club Singapore Wins Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120218184734/http://malaysiangp.com.my/news/sepang-circuits-porsche-club-singapore-wins-m). Sepang International Circuit. Archived from [the original](http://malaysiangp.com.my/news/sepang-circuits-porsche-club-singapore-wins-m) on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-tp12_3-0)** ["Sepang 12 Hours Race 2015"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160203220448/http://www.talontv.net/tp12-racing-team-sepang-12-hours-race-2015/). Sepang International Circuit. Archived from [the original](http://www.talontv.net/tp12-racing-team-sepang-12-hours-race-2015/) on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Sports, N. S. T. (2017-11-04). ["End of the road for Sepang 12 Hours race"](https://www.nst.com.my/sports/motor-sports/2017/11/299107/end-road-sepang-12-hours-race). *NST Online*. Retrieved 2020-02-26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Sepang 12 Hours Set To Return In 2023"](https://www.dailysportscar.com/2022/10/13/sepang-12-hours-set-to-return-in-2023.html). *dailysportscar.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["SRO chooses to cancel 2017 Motul Sepang 12 Hours"](http://www.sepang12hours.com/newsitem.php?key=45). 3 November 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Rising to "The Challenge Within" won Class A Championship title for the 5th consecutive year in MME"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170511091507/https://www.honda.com.my/corporate/press_release_details/442/Rising-to-The-Challenge-Within-won-Class-A-Championship-title-for-the-5th-consecutive-year-in-MME-20). Honda Malaysia. Archived from [the original](http://www.honda.com.my/corporate/press_release_details/442/Rising-to-The-Challenge-Within-won-Class-A-Championship-title-for-the-5th-consecutive-year-in-MME-20) on 11 May 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2016.

v t e Intercontinental GT Challenge races (2016–present) Current (2026) Bathurst 12 Hour Nürburgring 24 Hours Spa 24 Hours Suzuka 1000 km Indianapolis 8 Hour Future (2027) Texas 8 Hour Former California 8 Hours Gulf 12 Hours Kyalami 9 Hours Sepang 12 Hours

v t e Automobile endurance races 24 hours 24 Hours of Le Mans 24 Hours of Daytona Nürburgring 24 Hours Spa 24 Hours Dubai 24 Hour Fuji 24 Hours 24 Hours of Zolder 24 Hours of Barcelona 2CV 24 Hour Race 24H Silverstone Longest Day of Nelson 24 Hours of Chamonix [fr] Willhire 24 Hour Bathurst 24 Hour Tokachi 24 Hours 24 Hours of Portimão 12 hours 12 Hours of Sebring Bathurst 12 Hour 12 Hours of Mugello 12 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps Sepang 12 Hours 12 Hours of Tarumã [pt] 12 Hours of Kuwait 12 Hours of Hungary Coppa Florio 12 Hours of Sicily 12 Hours at the Point 12 Hours of Brno 12 Hours of Reims Gulf 12 Hours Rothmans 12 hours 10 hours Petit Le Mans Qatar 1812 km 10 Hours of Messina 9 hours Kyalami 9 Hours 8 hours 8 Hours of Bahrain Indianapolis 8 Hour Texas 8 Hour California 8 Hours 6 hours Lone Star Le Mans 6 Hours of Fuji 6 Hours of Imola 6 Hours of São Paulo 6 Hours of Silverstone 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours of Indianapolis (IMSA) 6 Hours of Road America (IMSA) 6 Hours of Watkins Glen 6 Hours of Abu Dhabi 6 Hours of Bogotá Bathurst 6 Hour 6 Hours of Atlanta 6 Hours of Donington 6 Hours of Jeddah 6 Hours of Mexico 6 Hours of Monza 6 Hours of Nürburgring 6 Hours of Perth 6 Hours of Portimão 6 Hours of Rome 6 Hours of Zhuhai Mid-Ohio 6 Hours Monterey 6 Hours Mosport 6 Hours Riverside 6 Hours 4 Hours 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi 4 Hours of Barcelona 4 Hours of Castellet 4 Hours of Dubai 4 Hours of Imola 4 Hours of Portimão 4 Hours of Sepang 4 Hours of Silverstone 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps 4 Hours of Aragón 4 Hours of Buriram 4 Hours of Estoril 4 Hours of Fuji 4 Hours of Monza 4 Hours of Mugello 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring 4 Hours of Shanghai 4 Hours of Shanghai (AsLMS) 4 Hours of The Bend 4 Hours of Zhuhai 2 hours TCR European Endurance 1000 miles Mil Milhas Brasil 1000 Miles of Sebring Mille Miglia 1000 km 1006 km Palanga 1000 km Paul Ricard Bathurst 1000 Baja 1000 Sepang 1000 km Suzuka 1000 km 1000 km Brands Hatch 1000 km Buenos Aires 1000 km Istanbul 1000 km Jarama 1000 km Le Mans (Bugatti) 1000 km Mosport 1000 km Okayama 1000 km Paris Race of a Thousand Years Other 25 Hours of Spa 25 Hours of Thunderhill Carrera Panamericana Charge of the Headlight Brigade Targa Florio TCR Spa 500 Laps or 23 Hours The 2904 Defunct races are indicated in italics

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sepang 12 Hours](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepang_12_Hours) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepang_12_Hours?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.