Declaring that his Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT will definitely finish the 12-hour race, the former Super GT driver Genji Hashimoto has effectively penned his Amprex Motorsports Racing Team as the hot favourites for the Petronas Primax 3 Merdeka Millennium Endurance 2006 which will be held at Sepang Circuit tomorrow.

With an average lap time of 2 minutes 15 seconds and some two seconds faster than his fastest rival around Sepang’s 5.543-km long track, Hashimoto had a machine that would be ummatched by any of its rivals in terms of speed and acceleration. “This is no ordinary a Lamborghini car but a Murciélago machine with American Le Mans Endurance Series specs. It will finish the race,” said Hashimoto, who will be partnering Super GT driver Akira Hirakawa and Takashi Inoue, who is a former champion in the Porsche Cup Japan Series.

If that is not frightening enough for his rivals, Hashimoto, who won last year with Tengku Djan Ley and Australian Tony Riccirdello, said that the car could even go up to a lap time of 2 minutes 7 seconds if he were to push it to the limit. “Obviously, I don’t think there is a need for that. We will be wise in our strategy to sustain the car and its engine and avoid any unnecessary risks,” said Hashimoto, who won last year in a collaboration between Amprex Motorsports and Proton R3; completing 279 laps. While admitting that his previous attempts were futile until using the fully modified Lotus Exige 300RR machine, Hashimoto insisted that his 2006 campaign would be different and that his team would be at the top of the podium on Sunday.
 

Famously named the six-hour man of MME, Hashimoto first competed in the MME in 2002 in a mean BMW M3 machine when his team was forced to retire after six hours due to mechanical problems while leading the race. His MME campaign in 2003 in Mazda RX7 GT machine also lasted six hours. His six-hour ordeal in the 12-hour endurance race continued in 2004 with his Lamborghini Murciélago as Hashimoto again retired after six hours while leading the race. “That was a different Murciélago machine. This is a different one with specific endurance specs unlike the previous cars,” said Hashimoto, adding that his winning experience with the Proton R3 Team would be an added element in his 2006 campaign.

Introduced in 2000, the Petronas Primax 3 Merdeka Millennium Endurance race features three drivers to a car as they take turns to complete as many laps as possible within the given 12 hours of racing. The 2006 race will be flagged off at midnight tomorrow by Malaysia Motorsports Commission 84 with nine cars in the open class, 16 in Class A for cars above 1900cc, 35 in Class B for cars between 1601cc to 1900cc and 24 in Class c for the sub-1600cc machines. In defending his title, Tengku Djan had not only gone separate ways with Hashimoto but also with Riccirdello himself; opting to partner R3 test driver Faidzil Alang and Australian Damien French, winner of the Australian Lotus Kumho Series for 2004 and 2005.