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Thunder Asia Mosler Racing Team Makes Valiant Effort At The Super GT Round 4 In Sepang

Despite Mechanical Failures, Thunder Asia Mosler Racing Team Completed The Grueling Race

Singapore, June 23, 2009 - The Thunder Asia Mosler Racing Team, featuring Singapore's own Melvin Choo, and Martin Short who was co-driving the Mosler MT900R, had an eventful weekend at the Super GT Round 4, held in Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia from June 19th to 21st, 2009. The debut of the team at the Round 4 race finished at a respectable 13th position despite mechanical failures due to the heat.

Clocking a best time of 2'11.771 in the qualifying rounds (8th position), the Thunder Asia Mosler team started off in a good position (reaching 2nd position), during the first 4 laps of the race. At the 5th lap, a loss of power steering forced the car to a 5th position. More precious time was lost at the pitstop when the car refused to start due to a fuel pump failure. Despite the difficulties, the drivers pushed on to finish at 13th position in the GT300 race.

"Disappointed but what an experience! We have a very good car and were doing well before the power steering failed. Even then, we were still at the 5th position. It was when the fuel pump failed due to the heat, that we lost 5 laps due to the time spent repairing the car," says Melvin Choo, co-driver, Thunder Asia Mosler Racing team. "We came in 13th position and this is fine for our first attempt. We learnt a lot to be applied towards future races, and we will be working extra hard to solve the challenges for the next race."

"From a manufacturer's perspective, this is the hottest race we have ever done. The ambient heat of 33 degree Celsius and high humidity was unbelievable. Within the car, temperature was over 40 degree Celsius," says Martin Short, co-driver, Thunder Asia Mosler Racing team. "All in all, it was a fantastic experience for us to develop solutions for the problems arising due to overheating. We will be working on all the issues back in the factory, from power steering, air-conditioning, water temperature, to fuel pumps, and we are confident of adapting our car to compete in a very hot environment."

"On a positive note, the experience was an encouraging one. For a first attempt in the Super GT driving a Mosler, we are proud to have finished the race, and to be on pace and on par with the renowned Super GT race cars and drivers, despite our challenges. The only drawback was mainly due to mechanical faults which can be easily fixed with experience," says Raja Norzaini, Thunder Asia team manager.


Images for download:
Melvin Choo in race suit
Melvin Choo's Mosler MT900R


About Melvin Choo Kwok Ming
Melvin Choo (car number: 69) is the first Singaporean race driver to achieve a remarkable feat of chalking up 30 race participations in 2008, with a total of 7 victories, 8 podium finishes and 5 pole positions in three different cars, Aston Martin, BMW and Porsche, representing accomplishment through expertise. Becoming the Class B winner in the JPM Integra Championship in Malaysia, jumpstart his racing career in Asia in 2006. In 2007, Melvin took part in some of the most prominent races in Asia; FIA Asia Touring Car Series (FIA ATCS), where he finished second in Division 2 and third overall, FIA Asian Touring Car Cup, where he finished second overall and awarded the fastest front wheel driver and JPM Integra Championships, where he was third overall. 2008 is Melvin's breakthrough year where he successfully raced in four renowned high profile events in motorsports; FIA World Touring Car Championships (WTCC), FIA Asia Touring Car Series (ATCS), Aston Martin Asia Cup (AMAC), and Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. It is also the year he placed Singapore on the international map of car racing as the first and only South-East Asian to race at the FIA WTCC well known for its stringent qualifying process, and by achieving the rare task of scoring points in his debut FIA WTCC race in Okayama, Japan.

About Thunder Asia Racing
Thunder Asia Racing is an experienced racing team with a portfolio of more than 10 years of major race participation and more than 72 racing vehicles built to date. The team has participated in 4 of the highest profile race events in Asia, with 3 of the most prolific racing cars in the world (BMW, Aston Martin, and Porsche). The teams' cumulative experience totals more than 100 years between them, and has 32 race wins of 52 races throughout the 10 years of competition. The team has past involvements with factory teams for Honda, Proton, and Lotus.




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Melvin Choo site

Keyword terms for page: Melvin Choo, Thunder Asia Racing, BMW 320si E90, FIA World Touring Car Championship (FIA WTCC), Aston Martin V8 Vantage N24, Aston Martin Asia Cup (AMAC), Porsche 911 GT3 Type 997 Cup, Porsche Carrera Cup Asia (PCCA), Okayama International Circuit Japan, Guia Street Circuit Macau, Sentul International Circuit Indonesia, Zhuhai International Circuit China, Shanghai International Circuit China, Marina Bay Street Circuit Singapore, F1 Grand Prix GP, Super GT Sepang, Mosler MT900R, etc.

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