The 24 hours of Le Mans is the pinnacle of motorsport endurance racing. Widely considered as the holy grail of motorsport. Win here and your name goes down in history as one of the greatest, ever.
Le Mans has been the stage of great duels, of victories and bitter defeats, terrible crashes that has claimed many lives. It is also the stage of some fantastic technology, incredible display of talent, and for a country as small as Malaysia, it is the ultimate calling for local race teams. And that brings us to our topic, the story of Viper Niza Racing.
The team is said to be the first ever all Malaysian race team to compete in Le Mans. But this is where we need to clarify that the team is not actually competing in the legendary 24 hours of Le Mans, but one of the supporting racing called Road to Le Mans which acts as a curtain riser for the actual endurance race.
Viper Niza Racing will compete in the Road To Le Mans this weekend with two drivers – Douglas Khoo and Dominic Ang – and will be the first all Malaysian team in history to compete in the race.
Many Malaysians have raced at the 24 hours of Le Mans as well as the Road To Le Mans, but this is the first time that an entire team, every mechanic and even the video team is all Malaysian.
Driver and Team Principal Douglas Khoo is optimistic about the weekend, “Road to Le Mans is undoubtedly one of the greatest races in the world of motorsport. It may not be as iconic as the main event, but competitors are still able to soak in the ambiance of having thousands of spectators witness our cars, which in turns provides superb visibility for our sponsors, in this case our sponsors are Motul.”
“I expect a challenging weekend, both Dominic and I are under no illusion that this is going to be easy. But our mechanics are ready for the challenge, and our Nissan powered Ligier JS P3 LMP3 race car has been thoroughly shaken down, and we are comfortable behind the wheel of the car.”
Viper Niza Racing is no stranger to high level competition. The team has been actively competing in the TCR Asia series. as well as the Asia Le Mans Series. The team has enjoyed multiple podium finishes in all series, and carries a wealth of experience going into a legendary race like the Road to Le Mans.
Piston.my wishes the team lots of luck for the race weekend.
