22 JUNE 2008, SEPANG : The SUPER GT INTERNATIONAL SERIES IN MALAYSIA, Round 4 of the 2008 AUTOBACS SUPER GT, was held at the Sepang International Circuit (lap = 5.542 km x 54 laps) in Malaysia on June 22 and the WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R driven by the pair of Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira and Seiji Ara came through to win its first race of the season in the GT500 class. This was the second consecutive victory for this team at the Sepang round.



The race started a 16:00 (local time) in the late afternoon to avoid the mid-day tropical heat. Starting from 4th position on the grid, Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira did the first stint at the wheel of the WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R and passed one machine on the first lap to move into 3rd position. He brought the machine into the pit on the 25th lap and turned over the wheel to teammate Seiji Ara. Ahead of Ara, the 1st and 2nd place qualifiers, the MOTUL AUTECH GT-R and the ARTA NSX, were battling for the lead, but the two machines collided when the NSX was trying to pass the GT-R. The NSX was given a drive-trough penalty (one pass through the pit road) for this, which enabled Ara to move into 2nd position. Then on the 50th lap, when the leading MOTUL AUTECH GT-R lost acceleration momentarily exiting the second corner, Ara passed it and raced onto the checkered an victory at the at the end of the 54th lap.

Holding placards by the streets, they are not ladies on strike or pickets. Instead, they are GT Girls recruited by Sepang International Circuit (SIC) to promote the 2008 Super GT International Series Malaysia this weekend.

With messages reading - Sizzling, Hot; fittingly reflected by their own sexy attire, the GT Girls moves around the city; targeting high traffic areas to catch the fans attention and woo them to the circuit.

SIC Advertising and Promotions Manager Azlan Akil said that the GT Girls On The Streets was part of an intensive campaign in their final push in promotions to secure 65,000 spectators for the race weekend. "I am proud to say that the track is all ready for the race and the circuit is ready to receive a targeted 65,000 spectators for the weekend," he said, adding that with four top class support races as additional attractions, the 2008 Super GT International Series is something that no racing fan would want to miss.

Sepang hosts Round 4 of a nine-leg championship series from June 20 to 22, which would also feature the new Aston Martin Asia Cup, the Asian Supercar Series and two single seater formula the Asian Formula Renault Championship and the Formula V6 Asia Series.

Two-time Sepang Super GT winner Michael Krumm today provided a sneak preview of the hot battle awaiting at the upcoming 2008 Super GT International Series Malaysia at Sunway Pyramid and immediately declared that he was ready to claim his third victory on Malaysian soil.

Driving the Xanavi NISMO 2006 race machine, Krumm, who is a two-timeoverall champion, thrilled the crowd at the open car park area as he drummed the machine to its thunderous roar and making squeeking ‘dough-nut’ spins around the open car park area.

Speaking at a press conference before the Street Demo, the German driver said the 2008 Nissan GT-R machine would be ‘much more powerful’ than the one used at the street demo; adding the race in Sepang would be an exciting thrilling affair for the fans.

“What you are about to see here will just be a small portion of the real action that would be happening in Sepang next weekend; it’s just to give you a feeling of the atmosphere of the race,” said Krumm, who would be partnering Japan’s Masataka Yanagida for the race.

Sepang hosts Round 4 of a nine-round 2008 Super GT International Series, which Krumm said had not started to well for the team; leaving them in sixth position with 18 points. The series is currently led by their Nismo Xanavi team-mates Satoshi Motoyama and Benoit Treluyer with 48 points.
After coming in second in the opening race in Suzuka, Krumm and Yanagida crashed in Round 2 at Okayama International Circuit and failed to score a single point in Round 3 at Fuji Speedway last month.

Two-time champion Lai Wee Sing is fast losing his grip on the prestigious Sepang Drag Battle crown as closest challenger Dixon Chen scored a sensational second win of the season in Round 2 at Sepang Circuit last Saturday (May 31).

Watched by some 5,000 ardent fans and a brigade of fans from his Johor Bahru hometown, Lai's fully modified Proton Satria encountered problems while preparing for his semi final tie in the open category in the pits against Mohd Putra and was forced to forfeit.

"We got problem with the gasket ... the gasket was leaking. We have no choice but withdraw from the semi final," said the R-Engineering team principal, who was forced to forfeit to Mohd Farriz Fauzi in the battle for third placing.

Double winner in the previous round, Australian Brent Odgers looked set to continue his domination in the Malaysian Super Series (MSS) as the two-time champion outclassed his rivals in Superbike Championship qualifying session for Round 2 at Sepang Circuit today.*

Clocking 1 minute 8.038 seconds around the 2.706km Sepang Circuit North Track, Odgers of Pineapple Motorsports Racing Team, was more than a second faster his closest rival Mark Lim, who chalked a lap time of 1 minute 9.881 seconds.

Odgers path to a second double victory tomorrow is made even easier in the absence of top Malaysian rider Ahmad Zamani Baharuddin, who is in Jakarta, Indonesia with the Kawasaki Malaysia Racing Team for the FIM Asian Grand
Prix Series.

It was a similar story in the 600cc Supersports Championship as former Asian Grand Prix rider Mohd Syahnas Shahidan was a class above his rivals on his Yamaha R6 machine; clocking almost a second faster with a time of 1 minute
9.739 seconds.