Three Toyotas in the top 5 at 2023 Sepang 1000KM Endurance Race

• Yaris takes victory and Vios claims 3rd position after 9 hours of racing

• 100% finishing record for all 13 Toyotas competing in a grid of 77 cars

• Former GAZOO Racing Rookies Amer Harris and Nabil Azlan crowned overall S1K champions

SHAH ALAM, 28 NOVEMBER 2023 - Three Toyotas finished in the top 5 overall positions at the recently-concluded Sepang 1000KM Endurance Race (S1K), with Toyota GAZOO Racing Malaysia claiming a valiant third place victory after what was an extraordinarily challenging and nerve-racking nine hours at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit.

Victory for the Toyota brand this time was handed by former GAZOO Racing rookies Amer Harris and Nabil Azlan who drove for UMW Toyota Motor dealer Wing Hin Motorsports and brought their Yaris across the finish line with a total of 169 laps completed – 5 laps clear of their nearest rival.

Defending S1K champions, the Toyota GAZOO Racing Malaysia team of Tengku Djan Ley Tengku Mahaleel and Naquib Azlan in the Vios, drove to what was a heroic 3rd place, one worthy of fairytale finish.

Having 3 Toyota cars in the top 5 overall placings were identical to brand’s accomplishment in the 2022 edition of the S1K and marks the third successive year the Toyota brand has been represented on the podium since it joined the S1K in 2021. Also noteworthy was the fact that all 13 Toyotas – comprising of 11 Vios and 2 Yaris – that started the race finished without a single retirement from a grid of 77 cars. Only 58 cars completed the race.

“To have Toyota cars on the podium for three consecutive years of the S1K, including winning two overall victories, certainly makes it the icing on the cake. Reliability has been the hallmark of Toyota with the brand progressively transitioning into performance driven by its achievements in motorsports globally and on the local front,” said UMW Toyota Motor President Datuk Ravindran K.

“Both the Yaris and Vios have endured three years of trials and tribulations on the track and emerged triumphant, and this is testament of the models’ true capability and Toyota’s commitment to build ever better cars for our customers.”

Six years of racing in the GR Vios Challenge; three years in the GR Vios Sprint Cup; and an 11th in Class finish in 2021; overall victory in 2022; and 3rd in this year’s S1K is also a fitting conclusion for the previous generation Vios which hands its racing baton to the 4th generation Vios that will be making its debut in season 7 of the GR Vios Challenge in 2024.

“The Vios is engineered to optimize power, reliability and durability to not only communicate driving enjoyment but above all, to deliver this performance safely whether on the road or even under the most challenging conditions in competition,” said Datuk Ravindran K. “The Vios remains one of the most popular B-Segment cars in the market and it has also been instrumental in propelling Toyota to the leading non-national brand in Malaysia,” he added.

Meanwhile, in the GAZOO Racing Vios Enduro Cup which ran as an individual class within the race, Axle Sports’ trio of Tse, Kah Hing, Mikko Nassi and Wu Hin Lun won the race to clinch a purse of RM10,000. Finishing 2nd ,1 lap down and for RM8,000 was Race Rally KL’s Shafiq Samsudin, Ahmad Nadzrie and Kelvin Yap, while in 3rd was the 23 Motors pair of Abdul Miqail and Amir Mirza who took home prize monies totaling RM6,000. A total of 10 cars in the class started the race with all 10 completing the 9-hour and 1000KM challenge.

For more information, log on to the UMW Toyota Motor (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd website at www.toyota.com.my.

This article is provided by UMW Toyota Motor Berhad

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